Made Of Glass
by AvalonHeights
Summary: [Sequel to All The Blame]. From the moment Avalon Mitchell met the Power Rangers, she knew what was important: family, friends, and, love...but she's tormented by the pain and misery of her past that she thought was over. When the fate of three planets falls in the balance, the rangers'll need each other now more than ever. She's made of glass but the glass is starting to crack.
1. Chapter 1: Some Things Never Change

**Made of Glass**

**Full Summary – [Sequel to All The Blame]. Things have changed though some things have stayed the same. The rangers continue with their battle against Rita and Zedd, but this time they have to divide their attention with the battles within themselves. How can they go on with the change of rangers and their personal lives hanging in the balance? It's only a matter of time until they prove they really can save the world. When the fate of three planets falls in the balance, they'll need each other now more than ever. From the moment Avalon Mitchell met the Power Rangers, she knew what was important: family, friends, and, love...but she's tormented by the pain and misery of her past that she thought was over. She's made of glass but the glass is starting to crack.**

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**Chapter 01**

_Some Things Never Change_

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Tommy Oliver took a running start and jumped forward. Lifting his feet he drove them into the punching bag that sat in front of him. He bounced off the bag and landed on his feet; turning on his heel and smacking it into the punching bag before finishing the combo with a series of lightning quick punches and kicks. He finished ending by striking an elbow into the bag. He held his pose for a second then dropped his arm, backing away from the bag.

"Great job, man," Jason Scott said, releasing his grip of the other end. Each blow Tommy delivered to the sack caused him to emit slight grunts, struggling to maintain his grasp on the punching bag. "You have nothing to worry about. You're going to win the competition next week."

"I don't know that for sure," Tommy denied. He brought a hand up, resting it on top of the punching bag. His eyebrows lowered, he shook his head, glossy ponytail flipping up over his shoulder. "Those guys are tough, man. I'm really going to have to work hard if I even have a chance."

"With us there you won't have a problem," Jason reassured him. The red ranger placed a hand on the white ranger's shoulder, gripping the skin taught and shaking him. "We're all going to be there to cheer you on. And you know Kim wouldn't miss it for the world." He watched as Tommy sucked in a quick breath, turning away from Jason.

Jason slowly nodded.

He recognized that look, how many times did Tommy get nervous around Kimberly?

Too many to count.

It was odd considering the two meshed together so well, they had been dating for so long. With a fond smile, Jason remembered the times he had to pose as Kim's boyfriend to make sure a guy wouldn't continue to pressure her into wanting to go out. Nearly every guy that came into her vicinity was attracted to her kindness. Since she and Tommy had gone steady, he could see a distinct change in them and couldn't be happier. Did he find it entertaining to watch Tommy bumble around and squirm when the pink ranger came by? Yes. So the fact Tommy seemed to be down in the dumps, as much as he thought it was funny, he was going to do his best to help his friend.

"What happened this time?" Jason crossed his arms, resting his hands on the opposite bicep. He gave Tommy a long look. "It couldn't have been anything too bad if you're still talking to each other."

"It's not bad exactly," Tommy drawled, his eyes downcast. "Depending on the way you look at it." It was strange, Tommy had a strong sense of justice, doing what was right, and being a leader. Nevertheless when it was the object of his affections, his insecurities came out. He didn't want to make a mess of something good. He truly did care for her and about her. "We were talking during one of my martial arts classes once, about how we were going to go back to her house after school to do our homework—"

"Sure, if you want to call it that," Jason interrupted with a knowing smile. The corner of Tommy's mouth lifted up in a smirk, making Jason chuckle. He waved the white ranger over to a nearby bench and sat down, straddling it. Pressing a towel to his face and neck his eyes moved across the room to the juice bar portion of Ernie's. Kimberly Hart, Trini Kwan, Zack Taylor, and Billy Cranston were all sitting around, piles of books and papers out in front of them, talking and laughing with each other in between sips of their smoothies.

"That's the problem," Tommy said. He licked his lips once more, rubbing the back of his neck. "Well, she kissed me and, uh, I needed to get back to my class. So I was saying that we could continue, uh, hanging out at her place. But the way I said it made it seem like I was thinking of doing something else…" He trailed off, lifting his gaze to meet the red ranger's. Jason looked back at him through squinted eyes; clearly he wasn't getting what Tommy was trying to point out. Tommy lifted his eyebrow, giving him a pointed stare and a few seconds later, Jason's eyes widened in recognition.

"Oh."

"Yeah."

Tommy shook his head.

How could things have gotten so weird between them? Normally he would have been able to talk to Kimberly and clear up the misconception, this time, however, he couldn't find the right words. Kimberly gave the impression she moved on from the topic, though things had become significantly awkward at times. Still, she managed to greet him with a warm smile that accompanied a hug or a kiss on the cheek that melted his heart like it was always did. He just wished he knew what she was thinking every time those silences came between them. He rarely had to consider their struggles in the middle of a monster fight; she was always at his side, ready to help out in any way she could.

_If only we could be in a monster fight all the time, _Tommy thought. _Then we wouldn't have any problems._

Jason's voice broke him out of his thoughts. "Well…do you love her?"

Tommy didn't have to think about it for long. It had been on his mind a lot as of late. Whenever he saw the pink ranger a smile would form and he would get butterflies in his stomach. Large winged ones that increased their fluttering pace the closer she got to him, when her perfume lingered on him, or when he saw she was wearing some sort of clothing or jewelry he had given her. He couldn't imagine himself with anyone else honestly, and whereas they were still young, he had never felt that way about a girl before.

Jason took Tommy's silence as the answer he was looking for. "Well, if you really do love her, and I think you do, and I think she loves you, too, then you shouldn't have any problems." He draped his towel around his neck, standing up from the bench. "Besides, I've seen you and Kim go through worse due to some of the strange schemes Rita and Zedd have come up with. If anyone came make it through this, you two can."

"Thanks, man." Tommy stood up from the bench as well, gathering his things. Zipping his bag closed he slung it over his shoulder and turned around, moving to head over towards his friends' table. A cry escaped his lips. He almost walked right into Bailey Mitchell, who had approached them, beaming. "Hey Bailey! I'm sorry, I didn't see you there."

"That's alright, Tommy," Bailey replied with a wave of her hand. "I should have made my presence known." She clasped her hands together, eyes moving back and forth between the two rangers. "I was just making sure we were still on for my lesson this weekend?"

"Of course," Jason agreed. "You and Fred have really been improving. In fact, Tommy and I think it may be time for you to test for a new belt. You've been putting in so much practice and you both work hard."

Bailey's freckled nose wrinkled and her eyebrows lowered. Her dark eyes shifted back and forth behind her glasses, almost of worry, as she planted her hands on her hips. "Um, doesn't it take a long time to go up in belt levels?"

"It really depends on how much you're practicing and for how long," Tommy explained. "You and Fred practice three times a week with our classes if not a private one. Besides, we're saying it's a possibility, if anything we may put you two into a tournament first." He laugedh quietly, seeing Bailey's eyes light up before she started to jump up and down.

"Beauty! That's so cool!" She cried in her thick Australian accent. "Thanks, guys!"

"You're welcome," Tommy said. "You deserve it, you really do." He put an arm around her shoulders and the two strolled over to their friends' table, pulling out their chairs and sitting down amongst them. Tommy put an arm around Kimberly's shoulder and leaned into her, giving her a kiss on the cheek. The scent of her perfume, flowery mixed with citrus, wafted up his nose. Combined with the mega-watt smile she then gave him, Tommy could feel his heart swell.

"So, is everyone excited for Valentine's Day?" Kimberly asked the table. "The Student Life Committee is planning on selling flowers and candy again, and I expect to get a lot of money from my friends." She laced her fingers together, batting her eyelashes at the rangers and their technical advisor.

"You can expect a lot from me," Zack said with a raised hand. He grinned, bringing his hands up behind his head, interlacing the fingers. Using his left foot he pushed against the floor so that his chair rocked back on its back two legs. A dreamy look crossed his face, it increased with each passing second. "I'm going to make sure Angela has a great Valentine's Day."

"Oh yeah?" Trini rested her chin in her hand, smiling at his enthusiasm. "What are you going to do this year?"

"I'm going to send her two dozen roses," Zack replied. He dropped back to the floor with a light thud, the only sound that marked his friends' stunned silence. "Everyone usually gets one or two flowers or so and I want to stand out. What girl doesn't like to get flowers?"

Kimberly pointed over at him. "Zack, that's genius," she said. Zack nodded his thanks. "Angela will have to go out with you when she sees how much you care about her. Now,"—she placed a finger on her chin—"you need to write something sentimental in the cards that go along with it. Something masculine but feminine at the same time."

"Is that possible?" Jason asked with a laugh.

"Seems to work for you," Avalon Mitchell announced her presence as she walked over to their table. Dropping her backpack to the ground, she pulled out a chair and sat down next to her sister, who leaning onto her shoulder, laughing along with her. "I mean, what with those long eyelashes you have going on, I'm sure with a little lipstick and blush there would be some guys out there that may find you attractive, yeah?" She crossed her arms over her chest, leaning back in her seat, a smirk gracing her features.

"Ha ha." Jason rolled his eyes.

"Hey Av, what's up?" Tommy asked the orange ranger.

It had been almost a year since she had joined the power rangers—if he counted by the school year—and she had managed to become one of the group pretty easily. He remembered the way she used to be when he and the other rangers had met her. She was cold, standoffish, and had backhandedly insulted them each time one of the rangers would try to talk to her and help her fit in. She had been a new student to Angel Grove, transferring from her old school a month after the start of the semester. That had been her story, anyway. It wasn't until she had suddenly burst into battle as the orange ranger that they had gotten the whole story. She and her sister Bailey had been dropped off at the airport by their father three years before, putting them on a plane from Australia to Angel Grove to live with his sister. What they didn't know was their aunt had moved, leaving the two girls stranded on the street. Avalon had gone to try and find them a place to live and had fallen into a bad group.

The street gang the Vipers.

With the Vipers she stole from houses, stores, ran drugs, robbed people, and created damage, anything that would be a way for her to get money to support her and Bailey. Due to her work with the gang she was able to get them an apartment for the two to live in for the three years. It wasn't until Bailey begged to be able to go to school, rather than constantly go to the library to teach herself new concepts, that Avalon had agreed and enrolled them in Angel Grove Middle and High school. Her work as a power ranger was difficult at first, especially as she had started to ditch out on monster battles to run with the gang, or ditch the gang to work on monster battles. The constant stress caused her to lash out even more, pushing her to the edge of exhaustion, though over time she slowly managed to become friends with the rangers. It wasn't until a group of putties were sent to attack them at school that the other rangers found out about the life she and Bailey had been hiding.

After it had been revealed, things had gotten better for the sisters and they had become good friends with the rangers. Bailey was like a little sister to Tommy as well as being Billy's assistant in the Command Center and Avalon was Billy's best friend, one of the girls, and one of the guys, rounding out the group with her sarcastic, witty, and impulsive personality while she enjoyed shopping and going to the mall. The only downside was she was still part of the Vipers, knowing it would end up hurting her or her friends in the long run, despite her friends' pleadings for her to get out.

"Nothing," Avalon replied with a slight shrug. "I just have a lot of homework to do." She rested an arm on the table before pointing over at Billy with her free hand, revealing the 'V' tattoo on the inside of her wrist. A sign she had been a part of the gang and was loyal to them. "Did you know the Cranstons have the rule you need to have _all _of your homework done before you can 'engage in extracurricular and leisurely activities?" She dropped her hand, rolling her eyes. "It's all I can take to stay awake in school in general, but that's just torture."

Billy shrugged with a pleasant smile. He wasn't offended, having grown up with two college professors as parents as well as his own interest in science and history, he knew the value of hard work and how a good education took precedence over just about everything else. "They just put a lot of emphasis on education; you can't really fault them for that."

"The only time it's worse is when Smurf, over here, starts to nag me about it," Avalon continued. She crossed her leg at the knee. "But I guess that's the price to pay when a family you barely know is willing to take you in, no questions asked." She smiled her thanks over at the blue ranger who smiled back and nodded.

"How are things anyway?" Trini asked, closing her books and moving them aside.

She shifted in her seat, her arm gently brushing Billy's. His cheeks turned a light shade of pink as he bowed his head, his smile widening. The others rangers looked at each other as they exchanged their own smiles. The blue and yellow rangers hadn't been going out long; they were still in the early stages where any sort of PDA seemed to embarrass them more than anything else. Billy more so than Trini; but Billy had always been slower to the affections of girls, despite his charming nature garnering some interest over the years.

"There's something wrong with this picture!" Zack announced. He stood up, pushing his chair back and, with determination, marched around the table over to Billy and Trini. Bending over, he took hold of the legs of Billy's chair, dragging it to the right; this placed it directly flush against Trini's. Billy's face reddened even further when Zack picked up Billy's arm and placed it around Trini's shoulders. "There we go!"

"Zack!" Kimberly admonished.

"Just call me cupid," Zack said. He flashed a beaming smile, rounding the table back to his seat. He dropped down and rested his hands on his stomach. "Isn't Valentine's Day great?"

"It is if you have someone to spend it with," Bailey pointed out. She then held up a finger. "Unless you count the fact it's a thinly veiled commercial holiday which does nothing but promote the message that human feelings should be exploited at least once a year." She cleared her throat and continued. "Not including it's more a sexist holiday than others because of the focus on men having to make all of the romantic plans while the woman just has to get dressed up nicely and follow along with what the man is doing."

"Wow." Tommy laughed. "Remind me to never get into a debate with you."

"That's sound advice," Avalon declared.

"But, I love the candy hearts and all of the chocolate so if I can support the holiday for that, then that's what I'll do," Bailey added with a sweet smile, causing the older teenagers to laugh.

"Oh come on, Valentine's Day is one of the best day of the year," Kimberly declared. "All the candy, flowers, presents, just being able to spend time with the people you love. It's, like, just so heartwarming and nice." With a wistful sigh she sat up, peering into the cup that once held a smoothie. "I'm going to get something to drink, does anyone else want something?" Getting a chorus of no's in response she took her cup and went over to the counter to get a refill.

"Alright, I'll bite." Avalon dropped her feet back to the floor, pointing with her thumb over her shoulder. "What's up with Pinkerbell and her fascination with Valentine's Day?" She held out her hands and overly exaggerated expression of excitement coming to her face. "Please tell me it's because by being born with the last name Hart it made her genetically incapable of being able to dismiss the holiday."

"You got the born part right," Jason replied once he stopped laughing. He put a hand over his mouth and cleared his throat before sitting up and nodding at her. "Valentine's Day is Kim's birthday."

Avalon's nose wrinkled. "Really? I didn't know that?"

She rested her chin in her hand. Great, now she had to think of a gift for her to get. What do you get a girl who was so well off she could afford a new car practically every year? More importantly how was she going to afford it? She didn't have a job. As soon as the obvious thought crossed her mind Avalon's knee started to bounce up and down, her foot tapping against the floor. The answer was so simple; get some of the Vipers together, case a house, and pawn off whatever they found. They were overdue for a money haul anyway and she was sure Chase hadn't scheduled a drug run for a while, not that she was aware of. The benefit of it was it would show the Vipers she was still working along with them as she slowly and surely wheedled her way out of the gang.

Guilt caused a flood of sweat to reach Avalon's palms. She hastily wiped them along the seam of her shorts. Bailey noted her movement and glanced at her for a second, then quickly looked away. Her sister knew her well enough to perceive whenever she was nervous and as of late, her nervousness solely had to do with the Vipers.

"Well, that explains why she's happier than usual, yeah?" Avalon finally found her voice, though her throat seemed to have become lodged. She brought a hand up and rubbed the back of her neck, the muscles felt tight. _I do kind of owe them; I don't have any means to get money either way._

"So what are you going to get her for her birthday, Tommy?" Bailey asked, moving the focus of conversation over to the white ranger. Avalon shot her sister a grateful look, which she gave a half smile to in reply.

"Hopefully something she won't forget," Tommy replied.

"I'll say," Jason agreed. He snickered to himself and Tommy reached out his foot, kicking him in the ankle. Jason let out a cry of pain but continued laughing. He only stopped when Kimberly came back to the table, sitting down again. "Anyway, Kim, what do you want to do for your birthday? We could have a party or go out to dinner or something."

"Anything you want to do," Trini added, reaching out and grabbing onto her best friend's arm. "Even go on a shopping spree if you want."

"You think that's a good idea?" Avalon remarked, lifting her eyebrow. "I mean, giving her that much attention would probably make her head swell even bigger than it already is." Kimberly let out a shriek and tossed a balled up napkin at her. "Relax, Pinkerbell, I'm just kidding." She looked at her watch before leaning over and picking up her backpack. "Anyway, I gotta jet. I need to get some homework done."

"So just stay here and do it with us," Zack protested. "We'll make a party of it."

"Because if I did my homework with you lot, I wouldn't get anything done and I like my freedom," Avalon replied.

She pulled her backpack straps up over her shoulder, doing her best to avoid the rangers's gaze. It wasn't that she didn't like living at the Cranstons' house, she really did. Mr. and Mrs. Cranston—they insisted on letting her call them by their first names, something she still wasn't used to—were treating her and Bailey very nicely, almost as if they were their daughters. They had a curfew that was meant to be followed—though Avalon had broken it a few times—they had the rule about getting their homework done—just a step down from a set GPA for them to sit at, which Billy and Bailey, of course, blew out of the water—they had chores, as well as had dinner together every night unless plans had been made ahead of time and was also run by Mr. and Mrs. Cranston.

In a way, Avalon felt trapped and free at the same time.

There was a big portion of her that appreciated it, knowing it was a family structure she had craved for the past three years. Nonetheless another part of her was used to running around on her own and making her own decisions, she resented the regulations being put on her. They only paled in comparison to the restrictions she had placed on her by being the orange stegosaurus power ranger.

There were so many parts of her life being applied to other people she didn't remember who she really was and the thought alone was starting to scare her. Enough so it kept her up at night, constant trains of thoughts clacking through her mind as the hours dwindled by. No matter how hectic things became she knew she wouldn't trade anything about it, knowing life was going to get better.

It was just going to take a lot of hard work.

"You coming, Sis?" Avalon turned back to her sister.

"Yeah, I'll come too," Bailey agreed. "Getting all of my homework done and torturing Av while she's still working on hers will keep me entertained for the rest of the day." She laughed, reaching behind her and yanking her hair out from the confines of her backpack. Avalon playfully reached over and smacked her on the back of the head. "Actually, I might go to the Command Center to see what we can do with Steggy. I've got some ideas and who knows what's going to work." She waved. "See you later, guys."

"Later," Avalon added.

She and Bailey left the youth center and started their walk back to the place they had been calling home for the past couple of months. Avalon stuck her hands into her shorts pockets, eyes squinting against the sunlight and as she did so, she felt a twinge of pain by her eye. Extending her arm, her fingers lightly grazed over skin. It stung against the minor pressure. Removing her hand, Avalon noticed foundation smudging her fingertips. At least the other rangers didn't notice she had used makeup to cover the bruise.

_They would have gone crazy if they found out, _she thought.

"When are you going to get back?" Bailey asked. Pushing her glasses up her nose, she granted her sister a disapproving frown, having ignored her a few moments before. Avalon knew how much Bailey hated what she was doing, yet she supported her sister unconditionally.

It was all Avalon could ask for.

"Hopefully before curfew," Avalon replied. She reached out and ruffled Bailey's hair. "I have no means to get money before finding a job, yeah?"

"I guess." Bailey stopped and turned, giving her sister a hug. "Be careful."

"I always am." Avalon stuck out her pinky finger and hooked it around Bailey's. She backed away from her sister, crossed the street, and turned around the corner, disappearing from sight.

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**A/N: **So it's just the start to the story, first chapter had to end on a bit of a cliffhanger just like the last chapter to _All the Blame_ did. This chapter was done in a way to start the new story as well as to do a kind of recap to the last story for those that are just reading the story.

While this story does have an adventure and lots of monster fights, as the summary shows, it also has to do with a lot of normal teenage problems that the rangers are going to go through. Because I thought balancing their personal lives with their ranger duties would get to them at some point in the show, though since that wasn't the point and it was a kids' show, they couldn't really show it.

Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed the first chapter of the story and I hope you continue to enjoy it as it goes on.

**~Avalon**


	2. Chapter 2: Time and Time Again

**Chapter 02**

_Time and Time Again_

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"Here."

Avalon placed a couple dollars in front of Bailey before sitting down at the kitchen table with her. Bailey looked at it for a long moment before reaching out and taking it in her hand. She studied it for a moment as Avalon lifted her foot up onto the edge of the table and started to tie her shoe.

"Thanks," Bailey replied. She gave her sister a half smile. "What'd you have to do to get it this time?" Her eyes shifted over to the mini TV that sat on the kitchen counter. "Anything I need to be told before I turn on the telly and find out myself?"

Avalon laughed, leaning forward and ruffling her sister's hair. "Relax, I had no part in this one, it's just my share of what I got from the others." She then pushed herself back away from the table and leaned down, grabbing onto Steggy and lifting her up onto the table. The mini zord walked around the table a few times before heading over to Bailey's cereal bowl. She made a light squeaking sound before starting to lower her head.

"No!" Bailey shot up and grabbed onto the zord, holding her at arm's length. She then brought Steggy to her face, shaking her head. "Do you want to fry yourself?" She then blinked, lifting her gaze to her sister. "I'm talking to her like she's some sort of dog or something."

"She may as well be," Avalon replied, reaching out to take her. "She keeps messing up my papers." Laughing, Avalon placed Steggy on her shoulder as she got up from her chair. "Anyway, what are you going to get Kim for her birthday?"

"I haven't decided yet," Bailey replied, taking another large spoonful of her cereal. "And you know, it's Kim. There's so much you can get her, because she likes everything." She bobbed her head back and forth. "Good thing is she likes everything so you can't really go wrong. Unless whatever you get her isn't pink."

"I hear ya." Avalon opened the cabinet doors and looked around for something to eat. "Personally, I think she may need an intervention." She grabbed a box of pop-tarts and closed the cabinet door. Turning around, she looked up as Billy walked into the kitchen. "Catch!" She took out a package of breakfast and tossed it over to him. Billy caught it against his chest and nodded his thanks. "Have you gotten a birthday gift for Kim yet?"

"I'm working on it," Billy replied. "Quite literally," he added, noticing the girls' interested in expressions. A small smile graced his features as he pulled a small mirror out of his back pocket. He turned back and forth, moving the mirror in the same way. "I took a compact mirror and imprinted her initials on the top with a laser point pen I crafted with the highest level laser. Once I have the initials done in a design I'm sure she'd take pleasure in, I'm going to craft it so that the mirror encompasses the planes of her face. It'll let her know, specifically, how much makeup she needs to put on in certain areas of her face for her desired look."

Avalon's eyebrows rose, a corner of a pop tart held snugly between her lips. "Beauty."

"And it'll be voice activated so that she'll tell it specifically which look she wants to work on."

"Geez, if I had a boyfriend like you I wouldn't be disappointed," Avalon remarked. She bit off the corner of her breakfast, replacing the box in the cabinet. "That's an ace idea, Smurf. Very original," she added.

"Can I see the engraving design?" Bailey bounced up from her seat and hurried over to the blue ranger's side. She grabbed onto his arm and tugged on it, resting her head on his shoulder. She stuck out her lower lip, batting her eyelashes up at him. "Please? Please? Pleeeeeease?"

"I'd do it if I were you," Avalon suggested. "Once she gets into her whinging mode like that, it'd hard to get her to stop." Bailey stuck her tongue out at her sister and Avalon stuck hers out in reply. Steggy squeaked lifting and lowering her head. "You're right, Steggy. She is a suck up."

"Am not!"

"It's ok." Billy laughed, holding up his hands. "Here." He handed the compact over to Bailey, who sat down at the table, turning it this way and that, eyes narrowed as she looked it over. Avalon laughed to herself, recognizing it as her 'scientist look', something she always did whenever she was trying to figure out how something worked. Her eyes narrowed and her nose scrunched up, often staying that way for hours as she continued to work through whatever it was she was studying. She had seen that look a lot lately; especially considering the hard work she was putting into trying to restore Steggy to her normal state. "Ava, my Mom and Dad want to talk to us about something."

Wracking her brain, Avalon's face screwed up. She was silent for a few moments, trying her hardest to figure out what she had done to deserve a talking to? She had never been caught when sneaking out or back into the house whenever she had to meet up with the Vipers. She was starting to become more serious with her homework and pulling her grades up, and she had fallen into helping with chores around the house. So what could it have been?

"Alright," She said. Dropping her breakfast onto the counter, she followed Billy out of the kitchen and around the corner. She stopped short, blinking rapidly when Billy stopped short. "Something wrong, mate?"

"I could inquire you the same thing, especially with the copious amounts of composition that you've been putting on," Billy replied. His eyes moved to a spot on the side of Avalon's face then back to her eyes.

Avalon twisted her mouth to the side then let out a sigh through her nose. Her eyes narrowed for a second. It was clear his parents didn't want to talk to her, even if they were at house. She should have seen it coming; it was the oldest trick in the book. At the moment she wasn't sure if that was true either. _Copious amounts of composition I've been—_her face cleared and she bobbed her head back and forth.

"So I've been knocked in the face a few times, so what? It's happened before. Anyway, nothing you need to worry or care about," she said firmly. "I'm getting out. I told you lot that already." Her eyebrow twitched for a moment. "I've got it under control."

"I worry about a lot of things," Billy reminded her. "More importantly about whom the next ranger is going to be and whether or not it'd be someone we can trust." He twisted his mouth to the side. "We told you the story before…how Tommy had been the green ranger under Rita's and Zedd's spell…things were so bad then. We didn't know what to expect or what Tommy was capable of. With his help he managed to almost destroy our zords, took them over so quickly. I don't know what we'll do if the Ankylosaurus ranger ends up being someone we can't trust." He rolled his eyes. "Or worse, Bulk and Skull."

Avalon gave a light laugh, shaking her head. "And I thought Pinkerbell was the worrywart. We don't want your head to explode you we?" She reached out and tapped him on the forehead. "Wait, is that the only thing?"

No. That wasn't the only thing. How could that have been the only thing? There was so much constantly running through his head, things he was dealing with on his owns, his grades, and being a power ranger all smacked on top of it. Avalon was sure her own problems were going to bring her a mental breakdown at some point. It wouldn't surprise her if it was sooner rather than later.

"I don't want the team to be let down," Billy replied. "It's the only reason I'm trying to figure everything out. Nothing's worse than having some that's a weak link on the team, it brings down morale and—"

"You're being too hard on yourself," Avalon insisted. "Truly. No one can anticipate any of this happening, no matter how much you work at the Command Center. And the way I see it, we can only figure out what to do when it happens, not before." She waved a hand towards her shoulder, where Steggy had been sitting quietly. "You think you would have been able to anticipate this and the way to fight it? I right doubt it."

Billy shrugged.

"Relax. We're going to the park to have fun today, remember. _And _because you lot are supposed to get ready for your first football game, so let's go." She pointed a finger directly in his face. "And I propose a worrying ban today. Something tells me you're going to need your energy to impress someone."

Avalon turned on her heel and walked away from the blue ranger, letting out a low sigh. Thankfully he hadn't noticed her tactic. It was easier to change the subject and re-direct people's worries off of her and onto something else that was of greater importance. Anything that would buy her some time while she was able to get everything sorted out. The longer she was able to keep her arms completely extended, holding both lives apart, the greater the chance of her getting crushed in-between. So far she was able to hold her arms up, but it wasn't going to be much longer until her arms gave out.

She clenched her hands into fists.

* * *

"So for a bit of a warm-up I thought we could play touch football and then get some plays together that we could use on the field later," Tommy suggested, thumping a football in his hands. He looked around at Jason, Zack, and Billy who all nodded, stretching their arms and legs. "I figured it'd be best so that we can each work on the conditioning for each of our positions."

"Sounds good to me," Zack agreed. He swung his arms back and forth. "I'm ready to go bust some heads open," he added, though the enthusiasm didn't quite reach his voice.

"Your Dad still pushing you on this?" Jason guessed. Zack sighed and nodded. "I'm sorry, man, that must be really disappointing that he's not supporting you on what you really want to do."

"In a way you must admit that he's just worrying for his future," Billy said diplomatically. He rested his hands on his hips, twisting back and forth. His eyes moved over the park around them. The grass of the soccer field they were using was a nice shade of emerald, showing the meticulous care the grounds put to it. The baseball field a few ways away was filled with little kids and their coaches, working on the batting and pitching. Their shrieks of delight floated across the park towards them, causing Billy to smile. He finally turned back to the other rangers. "I'm not saying it's the best decision for you, I'm just saying some things come to you in ways you don't expect."

"Whatever, man." Zack chuckled as he took the ball from Tommy. He turned and pushed it into Billy's chest. "You're kicking off first." He reached out and smacked Jason on the chest. "Jase and I'll be on a team and you two are on the other." He clapped his hands together then rubbed them gleefully. "And we'll run your butts into the ground."

"Ha! We'll see about that." Tommy faked laughter and the four boys split up to get to their places on the field. Billy spun the football in his hands before glancing over at the bleachers at the sidelines where the girls were sitting with Fred. The younger boy had been finishing a run through the park with his father when they had run into each other and Tommy offered him to watch them practice. Billy had looked over at Bailey at that moment and noticed that she was trying to hide a small smile. _It looks like I'm not the only one that's having problems, _Billy thought.

Avalon had been right, earlier when she said he had been worried about something other than the Ankylosaurus powers. (It was strange how in so little time she ended up becoming so close to him). He thought of Trini's parents not wanting him to date her had been going through his mind as soon as he heard the words come out of her mouth. Was there something about him that wasn't especially likeable? He had always been nice to them, polite and respectful as he always was with adults. And yet, they were against Trini dating him for whatever reason. That he wasn't good enough for her. That he wasn't Vietnamese. That he wasn't _right_ for her. He never thought things like that still happened, let alone in Angel Grove.

If he hadn't thought there was a chance to change their mind he would have potentially become depressed. If there was anything that being a power ranger hadn't taught him, it was that the longer they fought at something, it usually worked out in the end.

"Billy! Is your head filled with math homework or what?" Jason called, cupping his hands over his mouth.

"Yeah! Let's go!" Zack added.

Billy blinked and turned to look at Tommy. He was couched, hands on his knees, looking straight ahead at Jason and Zack, ready to race forward and grab their flag the next chance he got. Billy's eyes moved back to the bleachers once more, smiling as Trini waved at him and Kimberly, Avalon, and Bailey all cheered their approval for the boys in general. Billy gave a wave in return and turned back to the boys that waited in front of him. He extended the football, took a quick start and dropped the ball at the time he shot out his foot. The football connected with the tip of his foot with a loud _pop_ and went flying into the air. Kimberly's and Bailey's whoop of excitement pierced the air, accompanying Fred's, Avalon's, and Trini's gasps of surprise.

"Great job, Billy!" Tommy congratulated the blue ranger, reaching out and patting him on the shoulder. They watched as Jason and Zack frantically backpedaled to try and grab the ball before it hit the ground. Billy continued to watch as the ball fell from the sky. Jason reached out his arms and barely managed to grab it by his fingertips before bringing it to his chest. Jason then started to run for the white and blue rangers, keeping the football close to him with one hand, and the other hand extended slightly, ready to push someone away from him when he got the chance.

Tommy and Billy exchanged glances before they took off at the same time, springing towards Jason and Zack. The four boys ran towards each other at top speed, arms and legs swinging as they did so. Billy veered off to the left, ready to take on Jason when the time came. It was all systematic thinking, really. He had been around the other boys long enough to know, mentally what they were likely to do next. Tommy and Jason had the same idea of always going straight for whatever their goal was, and it manifested into their sport playing. He could see the two of them currently sprinting towards each other with a great chance of colliding. Zack, on the other hand, used his energy in small bursts that would have him spin or outmaneuver whomever he was facing; his dance background had helped in that case.

Billy could practically see the moves they were about to make. Jason would charge towards Tommy and throw him off, extending his arm to make it seem like Tommy could grab the ball then pass it off to Zack, who would spin out of the way and sprint across the other end to score the point. Billy wasn't about to make that happen. He spring over to Jason's side just as he and Tommy reached each other. Just as Billy thought he would, Jason extended an arm with the football in it, hoping to catch Tommy off-guard. It worked as Jason brought the ball back to his chest and jumped aside. He didn't expect to find Billy there, waiting for him. The red ranger noticed him there a second too late and tried to use one of Zack's maneuvers to spin out of the way, but lost control of the ball.

Billy scooped it up and raced onto the other end of the soccer field, getting the point for him and Tommy. He punched his fist in the air and turned to give Tommy a high-five. "That was more effortless than I could have ever considered," he boasted with a bright smile.

"I'll say," Tommy agreed, taking the ball. "If you continue to play like that when it counts, then we're definitely going to win." He grabbed Billy's shoulder and shook him. "You've really improved, man."

"It's all in a matter of knowing your opponent," Billy tossed the ball up into the air, spinning it for a moment. _And clearing everything from my mind. _He shook his head as a flash of the Ankylosaurus power coin came into his mind. _If only I knew the kind of weaponry it had. Then we'd know what we'd be up against, just in case…_He gave the ball back to Tommy, smiling and nodding at the compliments Jason and Zack threw his way.

"Maybe I should put more effort on our plays," Jason said. His eyebrows were raised with a surprised smile. "I might become half as good a player as you."

"Careful, you don't want him to get a big head," Zack teased.

"Bigger than yours?" Billy shot back with a laugh.

"Nice job, Billy!" Kimberly shouted, bouncing up and down on the bleachers like a jumping bean. "Woohoo!"

"That was amazing!" Fred agreed, pulling off his hat to run his hand through his hair. "I didn't know he could run like that." He turned to the girls beside him, replacing his hat. "Seems to me like you guys are going to see a championship winning football team this year."

"Especially with Tommy being the quarterback," Kimberly boasted. She finally sat back down, lacing her fingers together. "He told me he's been playing ever since he was a kid." She rested her chin in her hand, her smile widening as the boys started up again.

Bailey rolled her eyes. "You can tell who her favorite is," she murmured to Fred.

"Everyone plays favorites, Bay, it's a way of life," Fred replied with a warm smile. He cracked his knuckles. "Just as the sky is blue, the grass is green, and root beer is the best soda that's ever been made."

"I agree on that one, mate," Avalon said. She pushed her hair behind her shoulders in a long ponytail. Tapping her finger with her cheek she turned to the young boy. "Now, what're your thoughts on homework?"

"It's not that bad," Fred shrugged. "As long as I get it done early so I have time to practice my martial arts and stuff."

Avalon sighed loudly, dropping her head. "And here I had hope for you, Fred. Cheers mate." She laughed as Bailey reached out and shoved her sister on the arm. She cast Avalon a slightly disapproving look, her lips pursing as she did so. Avalon rolled her eyes before giving her a knowing smile and the peace sign.

"Tommy and Jason say you're doing a great job with your practices," Trini spoke up, turning from the field as the boys got settled once more. As she turned, she jostled the picnic basket by her legs. Reaching out, she quickly grabbed onto the handle and brought it back to her. "They're even thinking of testing you for your next belt."

"Yeah, Bay told me," Fred agreed. "It's really cool. Dad's happy about it. He says it's the first time I've managed to stay out of trouble for a while."

"Hm. That must be why Jase is always trying to get you to do it, Av," Kimberly teased the orange ranger, lightly tapping her not the head.

"Bite me, Pinkerbell!" Avalon shot back.

"Ooh, so eloquent, Pinky," Kimberly shot back.

Avalon stiffened, feeling every muscle in her body steel. How had she known about the nickname? Chase had barely called anyone by name if not by their gang name, making it harder for those around to be able to catch them. So when had she been able to hear it? Maybe she wasn't careful enough. That wasn't' true, she was so careful it was impossible for her to have messed up so grandly?

"Where'd you hear that?" She asked as calmly as possible, though inside she was seething with rage. Chase had never been so careless before. She was really going to give him an earful or else she was going to get dragged down into whatever he was doing before she was able to get out. Bringing up a hand, Avalon lightly poked at the side of her face, which had become a nervous habit for her as of late.

"I think she just wants you to know how it feels," Trini replied before Kimberly could respond.

The two rangers looked at each other for a long comment. They had remembered Summer and Chase having said it the one time they met while at the mall, before they had really befriended Avalon. They had been looking for their homecoming dresses when they ran into the Vipers at the mall. Kimberly and Trini had been confused as to why Avalon was referred to as Pinky, especially since there had been no indication that she even liked the color. If they had realized then, that their natural instinct telling them something was off about the group was right, things may have turned out differently.

"In the lamest way possible," Avalon snorted. She stretched out her legs, resting her heels on the ground. "The only way you'll show me how it feels is if it's an annoying nickname. Pinky isn't annoying."

"Better watch out, Fred," Bailey warned her friend. "Soon you're going to have an annoying nickname too. She gives one to everyone."

"Then I'm interested to see what she comes up with," Fred agreed.

Avalon sat up straight. "I like this guy," She declared, putting her arm around Fred's shoulder and shaking him. "We need him around more."

Trini opened her mouth to respond, but was cut off with a loud shriek coming from her mouth. A hand had grabbed onto her arm and pulled her over the back of the bleachers, dragging her o the ground. She looked up in time to see a putty's foot heading towards her face. Bringing her arms up in an 'X' she blocked the blow and knocked it flat on its back. Trini rolled to her stomach and leapt to her feet, holding her hands up in front of her. "These guys I'd like to see around less," she said.

"You got that right," Kimberly agreed as she stood up. She turned to Bailey and Fred, who had stood up as well. "Guys, get out of here." She then turned back and jumped, moving her feet out of the way as a putty tried to kick her legs out from underneath her.

"But—"Fred protested.

"Don't argue," Avalon interrupted. "These dudes are bad news and who knows what Rita and Zedd are planning on doing." She jumped over the back of the bleachers and clotheslined an oncoming putty to the ground before striking her foot out with blinding speed, hitting it in the 'Z'. She then turned on her feet and elbowed another on in the chest.

"C'mon!" Bailey grabbed onto Fred's wrist and the two started to leave the soccer field, but was stopped as more putties came their way. There was a flash of green light and Gemma, the pink half of the horoscope monsters based off of Gemini appeared along with them. "Watch out!" She ducked down out of the way as a putty leapt towards her and lifted her foot, slamming it to the ground as it arched back down to the ground.

"Kiya!" Fred jumped up and did a split in the air, smacking two putties in the face as they advanced towards him. Using his momentum he landed on his back on the ground and did a kip-up, managing to hit another putty, lunging towards him with outstretched arms.

Tommy did a spinning kick, knocking the putty that came towards him into the soccer goal behind him. He turned, feeling the flags on his belt getting tugged and did a back-kick into the putty's chest. It flipped backwards onto the ground, flailing to get back up. In that time, a putty flipped over its fallen comrade and grabbed onto Billy's arm, spinning him around. Billy used the momentum of the spin and, as he was flung to the ground, flexed his arm muscles, throwing the putty into the goal post. It hit its face and stumbled backwards, giving Billy the opportunity to flip to his feet and do a cartwheel into a back flip, sticking out his feet and striking the putty in the Z causing it to immediately disintegrate. Jason and Zack stood back to back, lashing out at putties that came their way. With each punch and kick, with each twist of their body they turned, ducking under each other's limbs and striking whichever putt that was coming up on their blind spot.

"Bay!" Avalon called over to her sister. Bailey spun on the ball of her left foot, using the heel of her right to smack into a 'Z' and looked back over at her older sister. Catching her gaze, Bailey nodded and turned to Fred. "C'mon, now's our chance to get out of here!"

"I don't think so!" Gemma's voice came out in a snarl. She turned to the side and held out her hands, shooting out a blast of green energy. Fred pushed Bailey to the ground, covering their heads as the energy blast went overhead. It smacked into a tree, immediately reducing it to ashes.

"Whoa, she's definitely gotten stronger!" Zack cried, eyes widening at the blast. "We really need to step up our game."

"You're right," Jason agreed. He defeated another putty and raced over to Fred and Bailey, who were still trying to dodge out of Gemma's way. "But we have to get them out of here, first." With a flying leap, he kicked Gemma in the side of the head. She let out a cry of frustration and turned back to Jason, striking him in the chest and knocking him onto his back. He rolled onto his side, watching as Bailey and Fred got to their feet and ran away. At least he had given them time to get out of there.

"This would be a formidable time to morph," Billy said. "If Rita's monster was able to reduce Steggy to the dimension of a bird, who knows what she can do to us now."

"I agree," Tommy grabbed onto his morpher, looking around as his friends did so. When he was sure they were ready to go, he held his morpher out in front of him. "It's morphin' time!" Tommy declared. "Tiger Zord!"

"Stegosaurus!"

"Mastodon!"

"Pterodactyl!"

"Triceratops!"

"Saber-tooth tiger!"

"Tyrannosaurs!"

"Power rangers!" The seven all declared once they had morphed. They called out their weapons and charged towards the putties and Gemma. Tommy and Billy tag-teamed on Gemma as the others dealt with the putties. Using his lance as a firm point on the ground, Billy pushed hard with his arms, lifting himself off the ground and vaulted over Gemma. He turned around and slashed her across the face, causing her to scream and fall back.

Tommy unsheathed Saba and caught her on the other side, slashing it about the face. Gemma sent an energy blast their way and while she missed, the force of the blast knocked them off their feet and onto the ground, skidding back to their friends. "Try this on for size!" Gemma called. She sent another blast towards them, this time striking the ground in front of them and knocking them back even further.

"Tommy!" Kimberly called. She let go of an arrow and it struck a putty in the chest. It broke apart in a matter of seconds and she turned and hurried over to the white ranger. "Are you ok?" She kneeled down by his side, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Billy!" Trini jumped in front of the blue ranger as Gemma moved closer. She whipped out her blade blaster and shot Gemma in the face a few times. As Zack, Jason, and Avalon all leapt forward with their power weapons—the power axe, power sword, and power staff respectively—knocking Gemma back out of the way.

"Something's wrong," Tommy said, a hand to his chest. He struggled to sit up, the effects of the energy wave still running through his body.

"Yeah, this monster really wants us to fight her," Avalon said, tightening her grip on her power staff. She spun it in her hands a few times. "Those energy blasts are really aggro,"

"No, Tommy's right," Billy agreed. Trini managed to pull him up so that he was kneeling. His power lance sat a few inches in front of him. "This would be the perfect opportunity for her to attack us, but she's not doing anything. Her energy blasts weren't close to attacking us either." The rangers all looked over at Gemma, who continued to slowly walk over to them, smiling a sinister smile. "Alternatively, she's her strongest with Nie around. That's where she draws most of her power from. Like twin telepathy."

Zack whipped his head towards the smarter teen. "Are you telling me Rita and Zedd sent out a weaker monster on purpose?"

"Affirmative. They're up to something."

"When are they not, mate?" Avalon reminded him.

"You're too smart for us," Gemma said. She let out a little giggle, bringing her hands up and covering her mouth with her hand. "Why destroy you now when we can destroy you on an even grander scale!" With a shrieking laugh she sent another energy blast their way, sending the rangers back into the opposing soccer goal, falling into a heap. With another scream of laughter, Gemma flashed away.

"What was that?" Trini asked.

"I don't know." Kimberly's voice quivered.

"We should go to the Command Center. See what Zordon has to say," Trini added.

"Good idea," Zack confirmed. The rangers all placed their hands to their belts and turned into their respective beams of energy, teleporting up to the Command Center. Once they arrived, they immediately took off their helmets and started to bombard Alpha, Zordon, and Bailey with a series of questions. Each one flew out of their mouths quicker than the one before, creating a wall of chatter so loud that it caused Bailey to cover her ears.

"Ay yi yi yi yi!" Alpha cried, his arms waving up and down. "Overload! Overload!" He cried. Light bursts of smoke started to pour out of Alpha's joints, his cries coming louder and more frantic. The rangers broke off and Zack walked over, waving his hand around the robot.

"Sorry Alpha," he apologized. "We're just so confused."

"Yeah, why would Rita and Zedd hold back like that?" Avalon scratched the back of her head before placing her free hand on her hip. "I mean, I haven't been with this lot for long, but even I know this isn't right for Rita and Zedd."

"They're right, Zordon," Bailey said. Her nose was wrinkled. "It's like they were…trying to distract them from something."

"Unfortunately, rangers, you're right," Zordon agreed.

A hushed silence fell over the rangers as they looked at each other. Zack continued to wave a hand around Alpha, who had fallen silent as well. "My sensors indicate that Rita and Zedd were indeed trying to get you out of the way." His gaze rose behind them and they instinctively turned towards the viewing globe. An image of Goldar appeared on it. He laughed in an uproar as civilians ran away from him, screaming. The rangers watched, mouths agape. Goldar walked up through a museum, waving his sword and smashing exhibits as putties raced around him, terrorizing those that got in their way. The viewing globe continued to pan over Goldar and his antics as the putties zeroed in on a glass case that held a large, green gem inside it. Goldar walked over and brought his sword up above his head.

With a cry of triumph he brought it down, the sword moving through the glass like butter. Shards flew around, striking civilians as they raced away. They screamed in pain and fear, cowering on the ground. Goldar ignored them, reaching into the now busted case and taking the gem.

"Yeah!" He cried, holding it over his head. "Now Rita and Zedd are one step closer to world domination!"

"Zordon, what is that?" Kimberly turned back to their mentor. She chewed her lower lip. "What did they want?"

"One of the most valuable items in the Angel Grove History museum," Zordon said grimly.

Billy slowly lifted his head. No. No. He did _not _hear what Zordon jut had to say. It had to have been some mistake. He hoped he was wrong. "Did you say the Angel Grove History Museum?" Billy repeated. His head whipped around and he glanced at the viewing globe once more, watching as footage of Goldar smashing a jewelry case and taking a large green gem out played once more. He brought a hand up to his mouth, shaking his head. "Oh no," he murmured.

"What's going on, Billy?" Trini asked him.

"That jewel he took…it could mean big trouble for us if they use it for what I think they're going to use it for," Billy replied. He brought a hand up to his forehead, starting to pace back and forth. "It's called the Azurite Heliodore and rumor has it that it has the ability of great power." He turned back to the rangers, who all watched him with mixture of interest and concern. "It was found on a distant planet during a space venture and it brought back, later ending up at the museum."

"What does that have to do with Rita and Zedd getting it?" Zack asked. He scratched the back of his neck. "It's like you said, it's just a rumor that it has the ability of great power."

"Anything falling into Rita's and Zedd's hands rumor or not, is so not good for us," Kimberly pointed out.

"Well, what are they going to do with it?" Jason asked.

His eyes were downcast, taking in the information that Billy was giving them. They thought having to deal with the horoscope monsters was bad enough, but now with them having more power…they needed to know the identity of the Ankylosaurus ranger as soon as possible. Looking around at all his friends, he could see they were thinking the same thing.

"With that kind of power, they're capable of anything," Zordon said grimly. "You're going to have to keep on your toes, rangers. Things are far from over."

* * *

**A/N: **So I plan on having chapters for this story go from Avalon's POV intertwining with another ranger's as the story goes on. That way you can see more of the other rangers and what they're going through while I finish up Avalon's plot and go through the plot for this story as a whole.

I don't mean to ignore characters as I write the story, sometimes it's difficult to write so many characters at one time. I hope I'm doing a good job to make up for them as they go on. And with this chapter and Goldar's getting the Azurite Heliodore the main plot of the story has started.

**~Avalon**


	3. Chapter 3: Private Life

**Chapter 03**

_Private Life_

* * *

At the crack of the starter pistol Zack and Avalon started sprinting across the grass, staying up on the balls of their feet as they went. Their arms pistoned back and forth, continuing to propel themselves forward to the white line that sat at the end of the field. They tagged it, turned and started running back. Zack, having longer legs, quickly outpaced Avalon and if it wasn't for being at school, she would have cheated and used her enhanced speed to charge by him.

Jason, Billy, Kimberly, and Tommy cheered for the orange and black rangers as they ran to the end of the field, finishing at two different times. Zack grinned, slowing down as he turned to watch Avalon come back in behind him. She twisted her mouth to the side, placing her hands on her hips.

"That's so not fair, your legs are longer than mine," She playfully complained.

"Everyone's legs are long than yours," Jason commented. "You're just going to have to get used to it." He laughed along with the others as Avalon gave him the finger and she and Zack sat down with them again, taking their lunches back from Kimberly and Trini. "With Zack helping you out for the track team, you shouldn't have any trouble getting on it."

"Definitely not," Zack agreed. He reached out a hand and placed it on Avalon's shoulder, shaking her. "This Kid has a natural talent for running."

"Mm, yeah, must be all of that running away from the police," Avalon joked humorlessly. She crossed he legs, opening the plastic wrap around her sandwich and inspected the stuffing between the two slices of bread. "Or, you know, trying to run away from Kim before she bulldozes you with her desperation to be perfect."

Kimberly stuck her tongue out at the orange ranger in reply. "It's called being determined, thank you very much," she said.

"Yeah, and I'm determined to get a good grade on this upcoming math test," Jason agreed. He had set his lunch aside and was sitting with his arms loosely draped around his knees. "It seems like it's going to be really difficult."

"What's _really _difficult is figuring out what Rita and Zedd want with the Azurite Heliodore," Trini pointed out. A sobering silence fell among the group. It had been on the backs of their minds ever since Zordon and Alpha had originally mentioned it to the rangers. "I men," she tucked her hair behind her ear. "What sort of power can this gem have that Rita and Zedd want it so badly?"

"Probably nothing we've ever seen before," Billy replied. Zack glanced over at the blue ranger. If he was saying that the gem had a lot of power, then they were probably in more danger than they thought. Anything that came from space was bad news, Rita, Zedd, and their henchmen being the prime example. It was tough enough having to deal with them, a little bit worse when the horoscope monsters came up, and now they have this gem with immense power. "Rumors have it that when the astronauts obtained the gem the first time, during that one space venture, there had been different extraterrestrial beings that chased them back to try and acquire it for themselves."

"So you mean Rita and Zedd could have been chasing it before they started to attack Angel Grove?" Tommy asked. His eyebrows were furrowed together in an expression of serious concern. Every now and then he would lower his head and when he lifted it again, there was only a second of the anger that he was trying to keep down shown in them.

"It's possible," Jason agreed. He waved a hand. "Rita was found in a space dumpster. She and Zordon have been in a battle for _thousands _of years. As far as we're concerned, this could have been something they had planned for ages." Bringing a hand up, he rubbed his chin. "I think what we should do at this point is plan to continue facing the horoscope monsters and deal with Goldar and them later."

"What's that going to do to help us?" Zack asked, raising an eyebrow. "Standing back and waiting for the power of the heliodore…thing…wouldn't that basically just be us turning Angel Grove over to Rita and Zedd for them to rule with their iron fists." He raised his fists and gave a maniacal cry of laughter to accompany his point, causing the other rangers to laugh as well. "Man." Shaking his head, he leaned back against the grass, resting his hands under his head. "Sometimes I wish we could have an easy day, one day where we didn't have to worry about a monster attack or something being stolen or having to save someone." He closed his eyes.

"When we first became rangers we said we'd protect the city and the earth no matter what," Kimberly gently reminded him. She reached out a hand and shook Zack's arm. "It's a great responsibility, but it's been rewarding so far."

"I know," Zack agreed. He gently opened his eyes, still squinting against the sunlight. "I get that. And I know we've all been saying this a lot, if not just thinking about it. But I wonder what it would have been like if none of us had been rangers and we continued to live the way we do now."

"Then I wouldn't have met you guys," Avalon said almost immediately. Zack opened his eyes fully and turned to look at her. Her voice had gone cold, much like it had been when they first met. Avalon shrugged. "It's not hard to figure out, mate. If none of us were rangers, then there would have been no need for me to be around you guys. Yes, you would have tried to make me feel welcome, but realistically, I would still be running rampant with the Vipers rather than trying to get out."

"Do you really believe that?" Billy asked her with a frown. He looked hurt.

"Don't _you_?" she shot back.

"No one knows what would have happened," Trini broke in, always the voice of reason. Zack figured she could feel the tense energies and it was starting to take its toll on her. She suddenly sounded weary, as if the weight of the world was on her shoulders. For Zack it felt as if it was on his chest. He was already under a lot of pressure from Zordon and Alpha and those in Angel Grove for being a ranger add on school, sports, and just being a teenager in general and he was sure the weight of the world was gign to completely crush him at some point. "It's not something we can dwell on…the unknown."

"We can when it comes to Rita and Zedd," Zack pointed out.

"Zack, don't' be such a kill joy," Kimberly chided him.

"He has a right to think about that if it's really that worrying," Jason defended his best friend. Zack felt a smile slid onto his face. They had always been inseparable since they first met, going to each other's houses for sleepovers, went to the movies together, participated in most of the same sports. When they had been in elementary school and first caught the eye of Bulk and Skull they were quick t come to each other's aid whenever the bullies came around. "Just like we all have the right to wonder what life would be like if we weren't rangers."

"Yeah, but would you give it up?" Trini asked him.

Zack now turned to face his best friend, waiting for his reaction. Jason pressed his lips together and slowly shook his head before lowering it. Zack recognized that look; he did it whenever he needed time to figure out how to answer a question. Zack glanced at his watch and rolled onto his stomach, scooping up his bag as he went.

"Well this was a fun conversation and everything, but I gotta jet," Zack said. He shouldered his backpack. "I have to go talk to the track coach and tell him that I'm not joining the team this year." He ran his hands over his hair before giving a winning smile. "But don't stress guys, we've gotten through so much before and we can do it again. No matter what comes flying our way we'll get through it if we work as a team, right?"

"Right!" Kimberly cheerfully agreed.

Zack flashed the peace sign and went back into the school. The hallways were empty, he could hear the students in the cafeteria talking and laughing as they had their lunch. At least, he thought everyone had been in there, turning the corner he found a group of African-American boys huddled around a group of lockers. They hadn't heard him coming until he was by their side. The group then broke apart, all staring at the black ranger, giving Zack the perfect view of one of the guy tucking away a couple dollar bills, the other putting a plastic baggie in his pocket. At first glance, Zack knew immediately that it was cocaine.

His dark eyes lifted to the guy and he gave them a brief nod. "'Sup, guys?" He continued to walk by them.

"Sup," the one with the money said, lifting his head as well. "What's good?"

"Just have some stuff to do," Zack replied. His eyes dipped down towards the guy's pocket once more. That was a mistake. When he lifted his eyes, the guy's face had turned into a snarl. He and the other teenagers all circled around Zack. "You want to ease off? I have to get to Coach Peterson's office."

"You ain't going to tell anyone what you saw, right?" The guy asked.

Zack swallowed hard. Part of him wanted to tell the guys that they shouldn't be dealing, at least not in school. Otherwise it was none of his business. But he knew how drug dealers worked, his uncle had been one and his mother told him stories of random police busts when they had been growing up. It was what made him want to stay away from that life as much as possible. Throwing himself into dance and being a ranger had done a good job of keeping him from being tempted.

Then he felt a hand clap into his and looked down as a little plastic baggie was left in his palm, the group of teenagers walking away. "Just as a 'thank you'. Keep your mouth shut and there's more where that came from."

Zack looked down at the drugs in his hand and closed his hand into a fist, shoving it into his pocket. Turning on his heel he continued to the coach's office, throwing out the drugs in the nearest trashcan as he went.

* * *

Avalon leaned out of the way, a cloud of smoke moving into her air space. She lifted a hand, waving it away before leaning forward and scratching at her ankle, shooting Chase a disapproving glance. He shrugged and pulled a cigarette from his mouth, making a show of blowing out another cloud as he did so. Avalon rolled her eyes, stretching out her legs, being careful not to knock into Summer as she scanned over the supplies in front of her.

Supplies.

Avalon had to keep herself from rolling her eyes. It was such a trivial thing; to most people supplies would be considered office or school supplies. To her and the rest of the Vipers, it was guns, knives, brass knuckles, ammunition. A far cry from the normal things teenagers had to worry about.

Moving her eyes around the room, Avalon watched as Chase and Skye focused on the TV in front of them. Like most nights, they were focused entirely on the news. This time, instead of seeing what the High-Flyers had managed to do that night, they were watching to see what the police were doing. Now that the High-Flyers and The Vipers had called a bit of a truce while they waited to see what the police were going to do with them, their focus had shifted. Chase, on the other hand, continued to operate as normally as possible. It didn't faze her, having been 'under his wing' so to speak when she had first joined, she watched his reaction to many different things that had been thrown his way.

He reacted with harshness and cold vigor that would make even a grown man's knees shake. He refused to take 'no' for an answer, and would be quick to get rid of you if he ever had the chance. Avalon wondered if he had ever gone too far, or what he considered too far.

_Knowing him he'd saw off his own arm when needed and still not considering it too far, _Avalon thought.

"Summer, shut up!" Chase snapped over the sound of the girl checking the guns for the status of ammunition. "I'm trying to hear what they're saying."

"Well excuse me!" Summer snapped back. "_You _told me to check the supplies like you've always had me do because I'm the only one you can trust to do it. So kiss my ass, Chase!"

"I'm sure he's done that plenty of times," Skye muttered, twirling a remote in his hand. He laughed, Chase shook his head, Avalon smiled, and Summer rolled her eyes. "I can't even begin to count the number of times I've been woken up because of you two."

"I need something else to do other than running you guys around," Chase murmured. He leaned forward, draping his hands between his legs, watching the TV intently. Avalon turned her attention back to the TV and watched as well. Lots of local news went by; the science fair for the middle school that was coming up, how the city as a whole was going to celebrate Valentine's Day, the plans for arbor day. Then there was a spot where the newscaster spoke about a previous monster fight and thanked the power rangers for it.

Avalon started to smile and did her best to hide it from the others. It was hard enough trying to keep it from anyone at school or anyone close enough to figure it out. She had a suspicion some at school were closer to figuring it out more than others, if Chase had found out, it would be a new world war. He was very receptive to those that would be considered a liability to him.

_"Angel Grove has been rocked tonight with the new of a major drug trafficking ring busted open. Those that were arrested during the sting have different connections to the local gangs as well as to those out of state, though many of them are just Angel Grove's teenagers. As of this moment the police department has no word to expand upon this ongoing story."_

"Dammit!" Chase cursed, dropping his head. He ran his hand over his face then spit the cigarette to the ground, using the tip of his shoe to ground it into ash. Skye turned off the TV and everyone instinctively turned to the clique leader. Chase continued to stay silent for a few moments then exploded with fury; he turned and kicked the front of his armchair, causing it to emit a loud crack, before grabbing it in his hands, lifting it up, and heaving it back to the ground. "FUCK!" He shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Dude." Skye held his hands up, getting off the couch and backing away from his leader, making sure he wasn't hit by any flying splinters. "Calm down."

Chase rounded on him like a rattlesnake, grey eyes ablaze. "Calm down?! You want me to calm the fuck down?" He let out a scream of fury. "Do you not get it? A drug ring was broken up. That was most of the group from San Diego! The other part being from the High-Flyers. I don't give a fuck about them, but their numbers are dwindling just as fast as ours are. Soon we won't have a choice but to join together if we're going to keep ourselves from being completely broken down."

"Don't you think you're overreacting a bit?" Avalon asked, half of her face screwing up. "Yes, there was a drug bust, but when has that ever stopped us before?" She waved a hand into the air. "I mean, even Lance got arrested. But he's in and out of jail so much it's not even funny."

Chase rounded on her, eyes narrowing. "Are you fucking blind?! We're down to _four people!" _He started to pace back and forth. "We had almost thirty people when we really started to become a major threat around here and now we're down to four." Crossing in front of Summer he brought his foot back and snapped it forward, kicking at the pile of weapons on the floor.

The sound of the gunshot was deafening in the warehouse completely made of metal. Avalon, Summer, and Skye instinctively dove to the floor, moving their hands over their ears, hoping the ricochet of the bullet wouldn't strike them. Chase barely blinked; the crazy look in his eye dimmed slightly as he looked around the room. It was sparsely decorated, the TV and couches and chairs being the only furniture around. The large staircase that was tucked in the corner led up to the other rooms that Chase, Summer, and Skye had managed to turn into, what could be considered a bedroom.

Avalon turned away from Chase, slightly alienated by the way he was acting. He was supposed to be her leader and instead of showing them they had nothing to fear, the he was the one that could continue t drive them towards victory—or whatever their goal was, Avalon hadn't been sure for a long time—he was crumbling under the pressure. Avalon could practically see his mental breakdown forming right in front of their eyes.

Maybe her getting out wasn't going to be as difficult as she thought.

"You." Chase turned and pointed at her. "Come with me." He shot Skye and Summer a dismissive glance. "You two hold down the fort. You know that some of those guys are going to get a plea deal or something that will reveal the rest of us and our headquarters." He bent over and swiped two pistols from the ground. He checked the ammo before tossing it to the two of them. "Only shoot when you have to and make sure it's enough to count."

"Got it," Skye said firmly.

"Good. Because if any of you fuck this up, I'll blow you away myself." Chase took a pair of brass knuckles up off the floor and stuffed it into his pocket before leading the way out of the warehouse. Avalon glanced at her watch once she stepped out into the dark night. She had about an hour left until she had to get back to the house for curfew. _Who would have thought I'd be the one to listen to curfew? _She thought with a wry smile. It was funny how much the way she thought had changed since she ended up in the hospital for exhaustion and realized just how many good people she had found herself surrounded by. But she knew habits died hard and she wasn't going to be able to completely change her way of life overnight.

Avalon followed Chase over to the beat up Lincoln Eldorado. Rust spots covered the front and sides of the car as if the automobile had managed to contract chicken pox. Chase slid into the driver's seat and Avalon dropped down into the passenger seat, slamming the door shut behind her as she did so. Chase started up the car and quickly pulled away from the warehouse, tires squealing as he did so. As he continued to drive, his foot pressed further on the gas pedal as the seconds passed.

The car started to shake as he continued to speed, weaving in and out of traffic. Tired squealed and horns blared, creating the background music for his pent up aggression. Avalon reached out a hand and grabbed the door handle with one hand, the other landing on her power morpher. It was strange though, the first thing she wanted to do to feel safe was grab her power morpher. At first she had been completely reluctant to be a power ranger; even going as far as to call Alpha and Zordon crazy for thinking she'd be good at it. It wasn't until Bailey had been in danger that she had snapped, wanting to do nothing but protect her and it was always what fueled her drive to keep going.

_It's not to say I'm right for it. Who knows if I was really destined to do this or if I just stumbled upon it? _Avalon tightened her grip on the door handle when Chase went flying around a turn, the belly of the car now bumping low over the rock and stick covered ground. The two jostled in their seats, bouncing up and down along with the unpaved roads. Finally he turned the car once more and pulled to a screeching stop, almost causing Avalon's head to smack into the dashboard.

"Are you trying to set the record for a head on collision?" She asked, finally finding her voice.

"At this point I may as well off myself, everything's falling to shit around me anyway." Chase rolled the manual handle for the window, rolling it down before bringing a cigarette and lighter out of his pockets. Lighting the cigarette, the flame illuminated their pair's faces as he did so. Flicking the lid shut, Chase heaved the lighter in the foot well of the car. "But your life seems to be going perfectly. You can go to school and have all of those nice friends around you." He inhaled deeply on the cigarette. "Must be fucking nice."

"It seems like you're enjoying your life just fine," Avalon said, irritation creeping into her voice. "You're the one that's constantly watching me. It's no wonder you got the job at the freaking auto shop down the street."

"Yeah, yeah," Chase murmured. His eyes shifted back and forth for a moment. "What I should be doing is keeping a close eye on you. You keep saying you're loyal to us but you seem to run around the topic as much as you possibly can." He took the cigarette from his mouth and tapped the ashes out of the window. "If I had done that, then you wouldn't have had to worry about your boyfriend getting beat up."

Avalon felt her blood run cold. Not only for because it seemed that people were trying to push her and Jason together when she wanted nothing more to do than completely forget that she had jumped him. But the calm way he had mentioned it, as if he was telling someone he was going to go on a walk, chilled her. The accusation in his tone wasn't lost on her.

"I don't have a boyfriend," she murmured. Avalon slowly turned to look at him, feeling anger build up inside her, eyes narrowing. "Wait a minute…were _you_ the one that beat him up? I fucking swear to God if you did anything—"

"Relax," Chase cut her off. He rolled his eyes. "Jumping someone that has absolutely nothing to do with me isn't my scene, you know that." Avalon's frown deepened. Then her suspicions of it being the High-Flyers had been right. They busted in the door of her apartment, tagged the hallway, and now went on and attacked one of her friends. "Though that kiss that you two shared could have set the ocean on fire." His cheek twitched. "Too bad it didn't work out."

Full blown rage took Avalon over at that point. She sucked in a deep breath, her hands clenching into fists. She could feel her face starting to redden, the tell-tale sign that she was incredibly angry. Chase, on the other hand, continued to smoke. "IS THAT WHAT THIS IS ABOUT?!" She gripped the armrest so hard it started to warm under her hand. A second later it began to smoke and she could feel it melting under her palm. She quickly pulled her hand away, curling her fingers into her palm. Little crescent moons from her fingernails imprinted her skin. "Is that what the threats and the ultimatums and the constant breathing down my neck are about? Because, in case you don't remember, you broke up with me."

Their relationship had been…strange to say the least. He was at least three years older than her, and she was sure that she only liked the attention that he gave her. But she did care about him. Every time they had stepped out of the warehouse was a chance for one of them to get hurt or arrested. He had originally taken her under his wing as a way to be sure she was the right person to bring into the Vipers, as he had done with Skye, Summer, and Lance. Soon they had started spending more time together and it had just happened that they started to 'go out'. She wouldn't even really use that term seriously and knew he absolutely refused to disclose any of his private life to anyone around him.

"I know," Chase agreed. "But that's not why I do it." His eyes narrowed but he stayed silent. Avalon didn't push him any further. She knew him better than the rest of the Vipers did and was very receptive to when he didn't want to talk.

"I don't watch you or the reason you think. We're a family; we're supposed to have each other's backs." Chase twirled the cigarette in his fingers. "That being said don't be surprised if I'm suddenly not around."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Avalon's hands moved to her power morpher once more. She could have sworn she saw an orange glow come from the power coin. Her hands shook.

"We'll see."

* * *

**A/N: **So I showed Billy and Tommy so far, and now I figured it would be time for Zack with Kimberly, Jason, and Trini and then potentially going in that cycle as the chapters go on, if I don't put two in one. Of course it'll be dispersed with some scenes of Bailey and Fred, as well as the entire plot of the story. I hope that makes sense.

So now you know a bit more of Avalon. Some of you may have guessed it before I said it, yes Chase and Avalon did date, which is why he has such a harsh view on her and what she does. As the story goes on you're going to see more of their relationship with each other in comparison to the rangers.

_Review Replies_

**Son of Whitebeard: **I'm working out what the power boost will specifically do because I want it to be original, but enough to where it'll add a good twist to the story.

**Brankel1**: You'll find out soon. ;)

**Shorty22133**: Thanks so much. And thanks for answering my question, it's always a bit difficult to be sure that I have everyone have enough screen time, especially when I'm balancing it with the overall plot of the story. So I'm glad I'm doing it well.

**ZoeyBoey224**: Hope you continue to enjoy it.

_Something's Gotta Give_ will be updated soon as well. I've had a lot of school stuff getting in the way lately and it took me forever to get this chapter worked out to where I liked it. I was originally only going to have the chapter be with Chase and Avalon, but thought of that scene for Zack. Also, anyone that doesn't mind spoilers for this story or _Something's Gotta Give_, please PM me. I have a few plot points I'm trying to work out and I don't know how well it'll work.

**~Avalon**


	4. Chapter 4: Public Property

**Chapter 04**

_Public Property_

* * *

Trini smoothed out the bright yellow vest she threw over her white tank top before leaning over to tie her shoes. Once everything had been put in place, she took her bag from her desk chair and hooked it over her shoulder. Taking a deep breath, she left her room and went downstairs. She could hear the sound of pots and pans banging around in the kitchen, accompanying the melody of running water.

Biting her lip, Trini glanced at the front door as she continued to inch her way down the stairs. If both of them were in the kitchen, then she could get out the door in enough time to—

"Trini? Is that you?"

Shoulders slumping, Trini went down the rest of the stairs and into the living room where her father was sitting on the couch, surrounded by stacks of mail. When Mr. Kwan noticed his daughter standing in the doorway, he reached his hand out towards her. Trini gave him a soft smile and approached him, placing her hand in his and standing by his side as he smiled up at her. "You would be pleased to know that we may have found the man for you to marry."

Trini tried to keep the smile on her face, but her heart hurt. Since she had brought up that she was going to go out with Billy the first time, though that date had ended because of Rita's and Zedd's well timed monster attack, it was all her parents wanted to talk about.

Her future marriage.

Was there something wrong with wanting to choose the person she married herself? As opposed to having it all arranged for her and hoped things worked out for the best? Trini lowered her gaze. She knew even if she didn't particularly like the man her parents chose for her, it would bring great disgrace if they were to get divorced. That much was certain. She only wished they would listen to her and understand she wanted to do a lot of things before getting married.

She wanted to date Billy.

"Strong values and knows the utmost importance of family," Mr. Kwan continued as if not noticing Trini's silent despair. He reached out his hands and gently cupped her cheeks. "You will be very happy with him. You are to meet him soon."

"I'm sure he's very nice," Trini agreed. She brought up a hand and placed it on her father's, squeezing it gently. Then she dropped his hand and took a step away from him. "I'm going to be late meeting my friends if I don't get going. We're going to the mall." As soon as the words left her mouth, the sound of a car horn honking reached her ears. "That's my ride," she continued.

"If its Kimberly, tell her your mother and I say 'hi'," Mr. Kwan said. A light then reached his eyes. He started to chuckle. "Also tell her that if she's looking for someone to marry, we can help her out."

"Bye, Daddy," Trini said, a little more forcefully this time. To push away the instant wave of guilt she received, she leaned over and kissed her father on the cheek, giving him a quick hug before hurrying out the door. After stopping to close and lock the door behind her, Trini hurried down the front steps and across the lawn, practically throwing herself into the passenger seat of Jason's car as he pulled away from the curb.

"Whoa, where's the fire?" He laughed, turning his attention to the road. "You don't have Rita on your ass do you?"

"I wish," Trini murmured in reply. Raising a hand to her forehead, she sank low in the seat. That was another rule she was breaking—always have perfect posture. It showed you were ready to listen to whoever was talking to you and showed you were attentive. At this point she was ready to knock down anything that came her way, especially if it was one of Rita's and Zedd's monsters. "There's just…a lot going on at home, lately." She ran her hands over her face.

Jason made a sound of agreement. He tilted his seat back, holding one hand on top of the steering wheel, the other laying in his lap. "It seems to be getting harder lately, huh?"

"At least you're not the one that's right under your parents' thumb," Trini said. She then moved a hand up in front of her mouth. "I'm sorry, that sounded a bit bitter," she said. "I guess I really wanted to get this out." She turned to look at him. "My Mom and Dad want to arrange someone for me to marry. They aren't particularly happy that I'm going out with Billy now."

Jason's face scrunched up into a look that seemed to be a mixture of horror and confusion. He brought his free hand up to his mouth, covering his lips for a second before dropping it once more, shaking his head. Trini was glad he didn't have a lot to say about it, it was what she needed. She didn't need a big reaction to the news like Kimberly had. Trini smiled a little as she remembered it. She had told the pink ranger after the monster battle at the beach that day. They had packed everything up into their cars and were starting to leave when Kimberly had said, "It totally sucks that yours and Billy's date had to be cut short. You two looked like you were having a good time."

"We were," Trini agreed. "Things were kind of different," she admitted. "Like, I felt we were still comfortable with each other like we always have been. But…things felt better, I guess." She ducked her head. "I don't know."

"Aww, you're blushing," Kimberly teased, reaching out and poking the Vietnamese girl on the cheek. "You two are totally cute together, it was only a matter of time until you realized you should go out." She clasped her hands together. "And to think it all started when he asked you to the homecoming dance."

"It might be the last one he can ask me to," Trini said. She let out a heavy sigh, noticing Kimberly's confused stare. Trini leaned towards her, resting half of her body on the back of Kimberly's corvette, and lowered her voice. "I told my parents that I was going out with Billy today…and they're not happy with it."

"Well, our parents aren't happy with everything we do," Kimberly said, trying to be helpful.

"No, I mean, they feel like it's an attack against their culture," Trini said. "They want to arrange a marriage between me and whomever they chose for me to have as a husband." She said. Kimberly's eyes widened for a moment before she reached out and grabbed onto Trini's arms. "Well you don't have to do that," she laughed a little.

"What do you think about it, though?" Kimberly slid her hands off the yellow ranger's arms and jumped onto the trunk of her car, crossing her legs at the knee. "I mean,"—she ran a hand through her hair—"I would hate it if my Mom said I couldn't date Tommy because she wanted to arrange my marriage for me."

"It's something they've been talking to me about since I was a little girl," Trini explained. She did her best to keep herself as calm as possible though felt she was on the verge of breaking down. The frustration associated with that topic had been something she felt since he was a little girl. But now that it was really starting to happen, it was taking more out of her than she thought it would. "So it's not like I didn't expect it at some point, I just wish they would listen to what I want rather than immediately pass it off."

"I know." Kimberly put her arm around Trini's shoulder. "But you know what this mean?" She tapped Trini on the nose. "This means you have to show your parents how special Billy is to you." She rapidly raised and lowered her eyebrows and the two girls had collapsed into a fit of giggles.

_If only things were that easy, _Trini thought, crossing her legs at the knee. The last thing she wanted to do was disappoint her mother and father, but she wanted to be able to live her own life. When was that going to happen? Trini suddenly jumped, sitting up straight when Jason suddenly slammed on the breaks, stopping short as the car in front of them accelerated at top speeds.

Jason leaned his head out the window and stuck his middle finger up in the air. "Why don't you watch where you're fucking going next time?" He shouted after the driver. Trini's eyes widened in surprise. She had never heard Jason that upset before, only when he was opposing Rita and Zedd. But now here he was hands tightly clenched into fists, cheeks flushed, and a harsh glare out the window as he slightly shook his head. "Idiot driver doesn't know what he's doing."

"Jase, are you ok?" Trini asked hesitantly.

"Huh?" Jason turned back to her, blinking once, then smiled warmly. "Oh, yeah, I'm fine." He titled his head back towards the road. "Apart from almost having the grill of my car crumpled in, I'm fine." He brought a hand up, rubbing the back of his neck. "Listen, if you ever want to talk about it—"

"It's alright," Trini said quickly. "I can handle it." It was just something she wanted to work through on her own. She knew the value of friendship and having her friends help out with her problems whenever the time came—many of the monster fights she had been in were only won when all of them fought together. But this was something she had to deal with one her own and she would. She just really needed to figure out what her top priorities in life were.

Before becoming a ranger, her dream was to be able to open her own dojo if not some sort of a health spa; so that she could pass on her training and healthy lifestyle to those that would listen to what she had to say. She practiced her fight moves every day—though not to the same extent as Jason or Tommy—she worked hard on her spirituality and how she took in the energies of the world and people around her. Becoming a ranger had increases that drive for her; however it also made her realize that she had to make a lot of sacrifices in life. Maybe her happiness was one of the ones she was going to have to make.

"Still if you ever need to, the offer is there," Jason continued. He gave a half smile, showing his teeth. "Your secret's safe with me."

"Is it?" Trini raised an eyebrow. Jason looked offended and Trini laughed out loud, pushing the thought of her parents away. "Who was the one that spilled the beans on Zack's crush on…Chelsea…in the second grade?"

"Zack," Jason insisted. At Trini's disbelieving snort, he smacked a hand against the steering wheel. "I'm serious! Zack's the one that can't keep a secret! He basically told the whole world about his crush, I never had to do it myself. And,"—he held up a finger—"he's the one that told everyone that Kim peed her pants on the fourth grade field trip to the zoo. So Zack's the one that can't keep a secret."

"He's kept this one," Trini reminded him quietly.

They didn't have a choice but to keep their powers a secret. Who knew what everyone was going to say once it got out? Would they be treated the same? Would they be cast into exile? Treated like they were celebrities? She couldn't bear the thought of what Rita and Zedd would do with the information if they the whole city of Angel Grove figured out they were rangers. Their parents had been attacked once—enough so that they rangers gave away their power coins just to get them back—who knew what other lengths the two masters of evil were going to throw their way next.

Now that they had the Azurite Healiodore...

_No. _Trini shook her head. _Today is going to be fun. Don't think about the negativity. _She took a cleansing breath, allowing her shoulders to slump as they released the tension she had been holding. Jason pulled into the parking lot and the two climbed out of his car, Jason wincing and grabbing onto his shoulder as he did so.

"Guess those guys got me more than I thought," he said, noticing Trini's worried glance. "I've been trying to make up the time I've missed while being in the hospital. Guess I started out too quickly."

"You know what you body will allow you to do," Trini explained. She reached out and squeezed his shoulder. "Don't try to push it." Jason winced and Trini giggled, pulling her hand away. "Oops. Sorry." Jason reassured her that it was fine and the two went into the mall, heading to the food court to meet up with their friends. Trini first spotted Bailey as she was conversing with Tommy about something, animatedly moving her hands, Tommy listening in rapt attention, nodding every now and then if not smiling. Kimberly stood at their side with a proud smile on her face, watching the two. Billy, Zack, and Avalon were sitting on the edge of the water fountain, patiently waiting. "Hi!" Dimples appeared in Trini's cheeks as she walked over to her friends.

Eyes landing on Billy, she went over to him and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. Billy smiled back at her, wrapping his arms around her in a hug. It was a hesitant one at first, but then as seconds passed he held her tightly. Trini rested her cheek on his shoulder and hugged him back. That was definitely what she needed at the moment. To know that someone cared for her and her feelings and what she thought about the situations she was put in. Billy had always been one of her closest friends, having her back whenever she needed it and her doing the same for him.

Billy's hand started to rub her back, sending shivers down her spine. For a brief moment Trini wondered what it would be like if she kissed him. Would he kiss her with as much passion as he was holding her with? Or would he continue to slowly move out of his shell and having a girlfriend? What would his lips feel like? Probably—

"Uh, guys?"

Zack's voice snapped Trini out of her thoughts and she stepped away from Billy, turning to greet everyone with a wave. Zack crossed his arms, smirking at the blue and yellow rangers. If there was anything he enjoyed more than dancing playing video games, and hanging out with his friends, it was teasing people, and the new couple seemed to be his new target.

"If you're done we need to get our suits and stuff," Zack continued, pointing with a thumb over his shoulder.

"Does the dress code have to be so classy?" Avalon questioned, wrinkling her freckled nose. She was playing with the sleeves of a flannel shirt tied around her waist. "Last I checked this was a dance, not a formal dinner."

"Well, once you plan and run the preparations for a dance yourself, you can, like, choose the dress code," Kimberly teased, reaching out her hands and ruffled her hair. Avalon batted her hands away and smoothed down her hair as Bailey laughed.

Avalon gave a playful pout, turning away from the pink ranger.

"So we'll meet back here in about an hour?" Kimberly asked, looking at her watch. "It should be enough time to get everything we need."

"Or to at least completely the top floor," Zack murmured.

"That's exactly what I was thinking," Jason agreed. The two rangers clamped their mouths shut when the pink ranger turned and glared at them. Jason held his hands up defensively until the shorter girl turned away. He then mimed letting out a huge breath, wiping sweat off his forehead, causing the boys to laugh.

"Let's get out of here before these boofheads do something they may regret," Bailey suggested to the girls, pushing her glasses up her nose. "You know, like, continue to breathe." She laughed along with the girls and they turned on their heels, leaving the boys behind and walking to the first dress shop they found. Bailey walked around racks of dresses, running her fingers over the fabric of each one.

"What do you think?" Trini pulled a golden dress off of a rack and held it up in front of her. It went to her knees and had cap sleeves, with a large black belt in the center.

Bailey smiled and nodded, tucking her hair behind her ears. "It looks great," she said honestly. "I'm sure you'll look lovely in it."

"Lovely?" Avalon repeated, her head popping up behind a rack a few feet away. "Since when do you use the word 'lovely' to describe something?" She walked around the rack, holding onto three pairs of boots. "Ace and Beauty, sure, but lovely?" Bailey stuck her tongue out at her sister and Avalon did the same before looking at Trini as well. "She's right though."

"I'm _always _right," Bailey bragged.

"You're always a pain in my ass, too."

"It takes one to know one."

Trini laughed, sitting down on a nearby bench. Avalon sat down next to her and started to change her shoes. She held out her sneakers and Bailey dutifully took them, tucking them under her arm. Trini smiled a little. "Is it hard having siblings?" She asked, resting her chin in her hand. "I've always wanted a brother or sister."

"It sucks," Bailey said automatically. "Especially being the youngest. I'm always being told what to do and being dragged somewhere." Her face softened and she smiled at the orange ranger, who beamed back. "But she knows that I'd kill for her any day of the week."

"And I know she always has my back," Avalon agreed. She pulled on a pair of boots and stood up, inspecting the heel as she did so. "No matter what stupid thing I've done to her or for her, I know I could come back home late and night and she'd be sitting on the stairs, waiting for me to get home." She reached out and grabbed Bailey into her arms, blowing a raspberry onto her shoulder.

"Ew! Stop!" Bailey pretended to try and get out of her sister's grasp.

Kimberly giggled as she walked over to the group, three dresses draped over her arms. Each one was a different shade of pink but didn't quell the bright shade she was going for. Avalon's left eyebrow lowered, her left one rising as she looked over the selections.

"What do you think?" Kimberly held her arms up, hangers hooked onto her arms, draping the dresses.

"I think you'd look like Pepto Bismol, mate," Avalon said bluntly. Bailey moved her hands up over her mouth as she laughed. Trini laughed quietly at Kimberly's pursed lips. She tried her best to hide it then smiled up at her best friend.

"They're all beautiful, Kim," she said honestly.

"Thanks, Trin." Kimberly made a show of sitting down on Trini's other side, putting her arm around the yellow ranger's shoulder. "At least I know who my true friend is." She then let out a shriek when Avalon reached over and pinched her on the arm. "Ow! Av!"

"What?" Avalon gave an innocent smile. "I thought your favorite color was pink."

Trini couldn't help but feel herself breaking out into hysterical laughter. One thing she knew for sure, no matter what her parents thought about the things she did, her friends, her _real _family was always going to be there for her.

* * *

Avalon frowned, eyebrows lowering. She chewed her lower lip, running the words through her head once more. She knew the risk she was taking with the decision she had to make. "I just want to be sure what my options are," she said slowly, trying to stall for time. She actually knew exactly what her options were, to take everything the Vipers had done into her own hands and get charged or take a plea deal and explain everything the Vipers had done.

_Yeah, like that's going to happen, _Avalon rolled her eyes, allowing her dark hair to fall over her face. Maybe if she hid from the police officer and Mr. Scott, who was now her active lawyer. She had no idea how that was going to be paid for, of what he was going to be able to do to help her. She knew Jason had something to do with it, he and the others had said when she was lying in that damned hospital bed they would do their best to help her and Bailey and they were keeping that promise. _Chase already agreed to the deal I asked for, and now I have to make a deal with the police? How ironic._

Avalon closed her eyes, clenching her jaw so hard her forehead started to throb.

"At this point, Miss. Mitchell," Officer Puckett said slowly.

"Avalon, please," Avalon interrupted with more bite than she intended. That didn't stop the smirk that slid onto her face when Officer Puckett sucked in a deep cleansing breath so hard his nostrils flared. She had been getting on his nerves for the past twenty minutes as they had gone around and around in a circle as she tried to delay her decision.

Take the blame or place the blame on someone else?

Either way she was going to be the one that paid for it in the end.

"At this point," Officer Puckett reiterated, being careful not to use her name. Avalon's smirk widened. "You know your choices and you're just wasting our man power. We know that you have a special case, especially considering what's happened with your parents and how you ended up becoming abandoned."

"I've already seen that Lifetime movie, no need to bring it up again, mate," Avalon said.

Mr. Scott held up a hand as Officer Puckett placed his hands on the desk in front of him, curling his fingers into his palms. He glanced down at the orange ranger as she sat slouched in the chair beside him. Her butt hung half off the chair, legs crossed at the knee, arms crossed over her chest. Her lower jaw was jutted out in defiance.

"What is it that'll come with her taking the charges herself?" He asked then motioned to the pad and pencil that sat in front of her. "And I mean specifically. How long each one will last and whether or not this is going to be taken to court."

"Considering what Avalon has told us that the Vipers have done," Officer Puckett mumbled. He flipped through his own notebook. "Or better yet, what she has done while in the Vipers including spray painting graffiti, robbery, instances of aggravated assault and misdemeanor drug trafficking…" he closed the front of the notebook once more. He was silent for a long moment, bringing a hand up and running it over his face. He appeared to be exhausted, more so than the others and Avalon wasn't sure if it was because he just wanted to get rid of her or if he was really trying to help her.

Glancing up at Mr. Scott as he sat patiently beside her, Avalon couldn't help but wonder what it was like to have a father who tried to help her as much as he was. He didn't appear to be the lawyer type, she had noticed upon meeting him for the first time. His muscles were too large and he had such an intimidating face, he appeared to be the one destined to be in the police force. Officer Puckett had a calmer demeanor that made her a bit ill at ease if she was quite honest.

Avalon ran her hands over each other, her eyes staring directly into the gray of the man that sat across from her. That was her bad habit; really, she was never able to sit still. Either that or her blatant mistrust of anyone that could potentially screw her over, that ranked high on her list as well.

Of course things would have been different if Captain Mitchell hadn't shoved her onto a plane to live with her Aunt if the Aunt had still been around. But if he found out what she was going through now, if there was any way for him to know, would he come to her rescue?

_Every girl deserves to have a prince to come and save her, _Avalon thought. _I'd give anything for Dad to be here. _She had always been a daddy's girl. Before Bailey was born Avalon wanted nothing but to run home from school and rattle on and on about every little thing that happened to her while he sat and listened, pretending to care what was going on with an elementary school student's day. Did he care that a boy in her class had pulled her hair? Probably not. But he still took the time to listen to everything she had to say.

"Considering we know who the leader of the Vipers is…but have no proof he was indeed involved in the crimes or told her to do…" his eyes turned back to Avalon. "Considering she hasn't changed her story, she will be on probation for quite a while as well as needing to fulfill hours of community service."

Avalon moved her jaw to the side. What did that mean for her deal with Chase? She would do whatever it was he asked her to do, as long as her sister wasn't in danger, her friends were in danger, and he let her go as soon as he had no use of her anymore. How was she going to be able to do that when she was on probation? God knows she'd probably have to get an ankle bracelet on or something.

"And that's not also including the fact that her name will more likely than not be put in the paper," Officer Puckett continued. "Which could bring some public backlash to you."

Avalon waved a hand.

"Just be aware that because of the representation that Mr. Scott has done for you, your sentence has been reduced greatly as well as the situation you're in putting this case in an interesting light," Officer Puckett finally said. His eyebrows quirked. "That is, if you have decided to continue with your story, that you acted alone."

Avalon slowly nodded. "I acted alone," she said.

Her voice sounded foreign to her ear, as if she had become partially detached from the situation and was watching everything from high above, near the ceiling. It was the decision she had to make and she made it. Now she had to live with the consequences.

"Alright." Officer Puckett started to write himself a note. "You are to report to your probation officer as well as to submit to random drug tests when the time comes." Avalon nodded. "As well as needing to report for your hours of community service and as soon as we figure out the area you'll take those hours, we'll notify you. Please be aware this will make getting a job harder, but as soon as the hours and your probation are cleared, you'll be back to being a model citizen."

_Model citizen? Yeah, if you expect a yobbo to be a model citizen. _Avalon resisted the urge to roll her eyes as she stood up and held her hand out towards the officer. He shook her hand as well as Mr. Scott's before leading the way to the door to his office.

"I hope things turn out well for you, Miss—Avalon."

"Thanks." Avalon followed Mr. Scott out of the office and through the winding halls of the precinct.

"Don't look so down," Mr. Scott chided, glancing over his shoulder at her. He seemed to have sensed her discomfort. Her eyes darted to every officer that came her way. For the past three years she had done her best at keeping away from them, now they were so close. "This is the best opportunity for you. You just need to show them that you're not a threat to anyone around you. You're in a stable home, you're around good people, and you're willing to do whatever it takes to keep that life around you."

Avalon tilted her head back to look up at Mr. Scott as he towered over him. "I bet you're grinning like a shot fox that your son is one of those people, yeah?"

Mr. Scott turned and looked back at her. "I'm not intimidated by you," he said bluntly to her. "I'm around people like you all the time." He sniffed loudly. "The only difference is that I can tell this isn't the life you want. I can see your potential. You just have to realize it here," he pointed at her heart.

"I'm trying," she said to her scuffed sneakers. "It's not easy—"

"No one said it would be, Avalon." Mr. Scott crossed his arms, his muscles constricting inside his gray suit. "You have to stop treating yourself and everything around you like it's something you can blow off if it doesn't come to fruition as quickly or in the manner you want. It takes more than just trying. You have to do it."

Avalon nodded.

Now that she had that out of the way, she needed to figure out how to keep Chase from killing her. Literally. Thank God she still had that pistol he had given her before.

Hopefully she didn't need to use it, but who knows what the future would bring.

No, she decided. Her inability to sit still and general lack of trust wasn't her biggest flaws. It was her constant self-doubt that was the problem.

* * *

**A/N: **Ha, update twice in one week? I think it's the first time I managed to do that. I haven't really done a chapter that showed the girls' friendship with each other so I thought this one would work. Though it reminded me that I need to do some more with Bailey. During Trini's portion of the chapter, there was a foreshadowing of what's going on with Jason. I said in the summary in the story that the rangers' personal lives are also a plot to the story and I wasn't kidding. Now, as for what's going to happen with Trini and Billy and her parents…you'll find out. ;)

Also, I worked out the problems with _Something's Gotta Give _quicker than I thought, so it's not going to be deleted. However, it's still going to be on a short hiatus. Also, _Son of Whitebeard _I'm going to move the idea into this story, because I think it fits better.

**~Avalon**


	5. Chapter 5: Happy Birthday, Kim

**Chapter 05**

_Happy Birthday, Kim_

* * *

_Thank God, _Bailey thought, gathering her books together as the bell rang. Finally it was time for the weekend. And while her sister was going to the Valentine's Dance that night, while also simultaneously celebrating Kim's birthday, she could have the house to herself for a bit. She was still excited for the weekend; Avalon had promised they would spend some time together, just the two of them.

For someone without a Valentine she was pretty content.

Bailey hugged her books to her chest as she blended in with the mass of students trying to get to their lockers and leave for the weekend. Heart shaped balloons, and pink, white, and red streamers festooned the locker fronts and walls alike, creating a dreamlike atmosphere around them. Bailey arrived at her locker, waving at a few girls that walked by as they had just left her class as well, ands started to put up her books.

It wasn't until she heard a dull thump beside her that she realized Fred had come from his class and was talking about…something. She hadn't even heard him arrive. Instead she flashed him a smile and started to pack her backpack; half listening to his story as she did so. Her mind wandered to Rita, Zedd, and Goldar, as it had been doing lately. There were so many things they didn't know about and that's what she couldn't stand, not having any answers. It was the scientist in her; she had an insatiable need to figure out what it was that was going to put the rangers on top.

And she was sure it would start with the Heliodor.

"So now all I have to do is give up my soul for the next two weekends to help him out at his next construction sight," Fred said, leaning against his locker, arms crossed and foot resting against the metal door. He took off his hat and scratched his head. "Which is a small price to pay; the guys there always enjoy having me around."

_Oh yeah, that's what he's talking about. _Bailey giggled to herself. _How he got grounded. _"Wow." Bailey rolled her eyes. "Hard to believe this only happened because you let a rabid raccoon into the house."

"I didn't know it was rabid," Fred defended himself. "And it's not my fault that it was attracted to the smell of our trash compared to everything else." He pushed himself off the locker and turned to face her. "Speaking of my Dad, you've haven't met him yet." He shifted his shoulders upwards in a shrug that was supposed to look nonchalant, but appeared stiff. "Is there something wrong?"

"No…" Bailey said slowly.

She turned back to her locker, wracking her brain for an excuse. She was so smart and she couldn't even come up with a good lie as to why she had been avoiding that. Bailey briefly closed her eyes. If she met him, then he'd ask about her parents and at this point that was the _last _thing she wanted to talk about. Especially considering she didn't remember them very well. Just a few things here and there. Maybe she had blocked it out with the fear and anxiety that had surrounded her for the past three years. She was still trying to adjust to everything.

"It's just that I'm always so busy," she said. "And you know Av's always on my case."

"What could you possibly be so busy with?" Fred asked with a light laugh. "I mean, yeah you have lessons with Tommy and Jason. But you breeze through homework so quickly, you disappear for hours on end basically every day and you always have an excuse for it." He twisted his mouth to the side. "It just makes me wonder if you don't like me or something." He gave a hollow laugh.

Bailey's shoulders slumped, pressing her face into bottom of her locker. _What's that supposed to mean? _She could feel her face starting to turn red as confusion rocked her guts. Did that mean he liked her? As in _like _liked her? How did anyone know, anyway? Yeah, she liked Billy at one point, and yeah she had been a bit crushed when she realized that he was with Trini, but she chalked that up to enjoying the attention he gave her. There weren't many people who were as smart as she was, or understood her when she went off on a tangent. Avalon tried and understood for the most part; though Bailey always noticed her eyes glaze over after a certain amount of time.

But Billy would always sit there and listen patiently to her, even giving his two cents whenever it came to her thoughts on something in the Command Center or about a school project. Not to say that the rest of the boys weren't great to her as well. Jason was really patient when it came to her martial arts practices, helping her along as long as she needed until he was satisfied with her progress. He always had a kind word for her when she was discouraged. Zack was always fun to be around; he made everyone laugh and always had a smile on his face. Even when he was serious it wasn't long before he was back to the bright smile. Tommy had become like a brother to her, he was always looking out for her and was the first to volunteer his time if she ever needed a 'babysitter'.

Her lips curling made Bailey appear more like her sister than ever. She knew Avalon wanted someone to look after her only based off of her own fear that she would bring harm to her sister. And Bailey understood that, sometimes she wished she was able to help more rather than being stuck in the Command Center and watching everything.

"Well that answers my question," Fred continued.

Bailey detected a note of frustration in his voice and let out a heavy sigh, lifting her head. Why did being a teenager, or growing into one, have to be so confusing. She wasn't even sure where she would be living within the next year if anything else happened, or what she was going to do about returning Steggy to normal size, or how they were going to finally defeat Rita and Zedd. Her theory of getting their wand and scepter was a good one; however she had no idea how to get them away from them, let alone the new drama of the Azurite Heliodor.

_Now I know why Avalon hates having so much pressure put on her, _Bailey thought. She stepped back from her locker door, closing it with the pressure from her index finger. She looked hard at Fred as he turned away from her, hands in his pockets, though he still hadn't moved from her side. "I didn't say that," she said.

"You didn't have to." Fred's eyebrows furrowed together as he turned back to her. "Also considering the fact you're always running off somewhere whenever we hang out."

Bailey resisted the urge to stomp her foot on the ground like a little kid. "I can't help that!" She protested. "Stuff comes up!" She brought her hands to her face, scrubbing at it with her fingers. "You're, like, the only friend I have here, mate. I wouldn't waste my time if I didn't think that…" she broke off, feeling her face enflame once more. _Think what? _She asked herself. Fred's look of frustration melted into a shy smile, tilting his head down so he looked at his feet. His cheeks were pink as well.

"It's ok," he said quickly.

Bailey tucked her hair behind her ears, trying to figure out what else to say, but had no idea what was going to relieve the tension between them. She got her prayers answered a second later, when a hand landed on her shoulder and she was pulled around. Bailey blinked for a moment, trying to place the girl, and then recognized the girl as someone in her History and Math classes. Bailey's eyes lowered to the purple and white letterman jacket that seemed to swallow her frame and she swallowed thickly.

What was going to happen now?

"Tim wanted to be sure this got to your sister," The girl said, placing something hard into Bailey's hand. Bailey nodded, immediately putting it into her pocket. She could feel Fred's questioning gaze burning into the back of her head. "And to warn her about what had gone down the other night."

Bailey nodded. "I heard," she said stiffly.

"Yeah, well, just make sure you all keep an eye out," The girl continued, twirling the end of her ponytail around her finger. "We don't need any more trouble. Not when we're supposed to be working together on this thing."

"Right." Bailey's stiff responses must have given the girl the hint, for she dropped her hand from her ponytail and started to walk away. Bailey chewed her lower lip for a moment. "Actually, can I ask you something?" The girl turned back around, waiting, eyebrows rose. "Why'd you decide to…uh…how did you—"

"It's a simple answer, really," the girl said with a fleeting smile. "They're my family and we have each other's backs." She gave a short wave then walked out of the hallway. Bailey let out a breath through her nose, pressing her lips together firmly. She got the answer she had always been looking for, but it still didn't make things any clearer.

"Your sister hangs out with them?" Fred's voice broke her out of her thoughts.

Bailey turned back around to face him. "Not exactly," she said and left it at that. Her eyebrows then furrowed together. "Why? Have you heard of em'?"

Fred continued to stare hard at them. "I don't know anyone in Angel Grove who doesn't. That's what the city curfew had mainly been put up for…for the most part." He scratched the back of his neck. "That's what Dad told me anyway." He brought his hand to the strap of his backpack. "So do you want to put the finishing touches on our project or do some homework or something?" He held up a hand. "I promise my Dad won't cramp my style, but he really does want to meet you."

"Why?" Bailey asked warily. She cursed herself. Her sister really did have more of an influence on her than she thought. That wasn't so much of a bad thing; Avalon helped her stand up for herself, to not be quiet about her passions, and how to deal with other people. Sure there were some unorthodox ways she ingrained them into Bailey's head, but it was needed all the same.

"I don't know!" Fred threw his hands into the air, rolling his eyes. "Maybe because he wants to meet my best friend?"

Bailey laughed, taking her backpack out of her locker. "On valentine's day?" She asked, her voice cracking at on the last word. She brought a hand up to her forehead, her face enflaming even further. It wasn't just her cheeks that turned red, but her nose as well. She absolutely hated it when she blushed simply for the fact that her nose would resemble a grape tomato.

"Why do parents do the things they do?"

Bailey was about to respond, then realized that she wouldn't know the answer to the question. Growing up, she had known nothing other than loving parents that doted on her, then for the past three years those happy memories had been washed away. Bailey smirked at Fred, lifting her backpack onto her shoulders. She wasn't going to allow any of that to affect her anymore. Not when there were more pressing things to worry about.

"Come on," she said, waving a hand.

Fred fell into step beside her and the two left the school building.

* * *

"Mom?!" Kimberly called, walking out of her room at a brisk pace. Two pairs of fingers dangled from her fingertips, they bobbed back and forth, reflecting the setting sunlight from the kitchen window. "Which one of these goes with my dress?" As Ms. Hart gave her daughter a once-over, Kimberly continued to move the earrings back and forth from her ear and extending it out, away from her dress.

"I think the diamonds are the better ones," Ms. Hart said with a warm smile. She reached out a hand and ran her fingers through her daughter's hair, careful not to mess up the up do she had created. "I can't believe my baby is turning eighteen."

"I may be turning eighteen but I'm still your baby," Kimberly reminded her mother. She then lowered an eyebrow into a half-serious, half-playful expression. "And if that means that we're going on our annual birthday shopping trip, I'll continue to be your baby as long as I need to." She laughed along with her mother as she bent over, sticking her earrings in her ears.

"That's good to know," Ms. Hart agreed. She draped her thin arms around her daughter's shoulders and pulled her into the kind of hug that only a mother could. Releasing her daughter, Ms. Hart turned to the island, picking up a wrapped box. "Now let's just hope they're not stolen as well."

Kimberly let out a sigh. "Mom, I told you that I found my necklace behind my dresser. I'm sure yours is going to turn up soon." She felt a wave of guilt wash over her and chewed on her lower lip, playing with her fingers. Would it be easy or hard to explain where it went? Taking in another breath, she gave a bright smile, hoping to take her mother's attention off the topic at hand. "Is that for me?" She pointed at the box her mother was holding onto then wiggled her fingers. "Either way, I know it is."

"Well excuse me for having my only daughter on Valentine's Day," Ms. Hart laughed. She handed the box over to the pink ranger. "Happy Birthday, sweetie."

"Thanks, Mom." Kimberly took the box and with an excited squeal, ripped open the gift wrap. Once that was off, she nearly destroyed the box that was encasing the dress that was her gift. Kimberly let out a loud squeal, holding onto the shoulders of the dress and jumping up and down. "Mom! Oh my god, this is so beautiful!" She encased her mother in a tight hug, rocking her back and forth. "Thank you so much!"

"You're welcome, Kimmy," Ms. Hart hugged her back, giving her a kiss on the cheek. She brushed Kimberly's hair back out of her face. "I'm so glad you like it." She reached out and tapped her on the tip of the nose. "And there's more where that came from. But, you said you have a date with Tommy you need to get to?"

Kimberly giggled, instinctively bringing her hands up to cover her mouth. She had been blindsided when she had woken up that morning with a note on her bedside table, telling her she had a surprise date for her that night, courtesy of her wonderful boyfriend. She thought he was wonderful anyway, especially when surprising her with a bouquet of red roses when she arrived at her locker that morning. Trini had 'aww'd over them, Avalon had given him her approval with a punch to the shoulder, and the boys had teased him good naturedly.

Of course Kim didn't miss Billy having given Trini her own flower and tiny box of chocolates, or Zack's two dozen roses for Angela, or the fact that Avalon had received five Ring Pops in her locker that day. Kimberly had watched in amusement when the orange ranger did a cheerleader style jump and immediately grabbed the first one she could get her hand on. And somehow she had managed to eat all five of them throughout the day, whenever Kimberly had seen her; she had a different flavor of candy in her mouth. After school had let out, Kimberly immediately rushed back to her house to get ready.

Kimberly raised her arms above her head and the pink ranger started to twirl around the kitchen, causing her mother to let out another chuckle. She couldn't help it. She always had a lot of energy, it was part of the reason she had been sent into gymnastics class other than having begged her mother and father to go for days on end. Kimberly did a quick round-off backhand spring before going back to her room to get her shoes and purse. Hearing a honk from the front of the house, Kimberly quickly pulled on her heels and slid her purse over her shoulder. She raced out of her room, kissing her mother on the cheek before flying out the front door.

Tommy was leaning against the side of his white truck, looking like he was trying to figure out whether or not honking the horn was a good idea. His eyes were downcast, fingertips fluttering at his sides; he appeared to be muttering to himself. Kimberly stepped up to his side and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Hi!" She said loudly, causing him to jump and jerk backwards. Kimberly placed her hands on her hips and turned in a quick circle. "What d'you think?"

Tommy smiled at her, and then looked her up and down before an expression of amazement slid onto his face. "You look beautiful, Kim," he said breathlessly. "Really." But the light didn't seem to reach his eyes. Kimberly frowned, looking hard at him.

Something was definitely wrong.

She tried to catch his eye, but he wouldn't look at her. Instead, he had his eyes back towards the ground once more, however this time he brought his thumbnail to his mouth and was gently chewing it, not focusing on anything in particular. Kimberly reached out and gently yet firmly grabbed onto his hand. Eyebrows lowering, Kimberly slowly guided his chin up and over so he was looking at her.

Her eyes caught his and Kimberly could feel her knees grow weak. Had she just been punched in the stomach? No. Still, she felt a sort of aching inside of her that caused her body to stay rooted in the spot. She had never felt like that before, it wasn't particularly a physical pain and yet she couldn't focus on anything other than that. She didn't want it to stop.

Before she could pull her hand away, Tommy grabbed onto Kimberly's shoulders and pulled her closer to him. She tilted her head back, strands of her dark hair falling out of her face, giving him a clear view of her beautiful brown eyes. She could feel his heart pounding, his whole body trembling.

Kimberly lost her breath.

"Kim…" Tommy licked his lips, eyes wide, holding a sense of fear. "For so long I've been trying to come up with what we are. What a good word for us would be. We've gone through so much together, being a power ranger, and without dealing with our rangers." Kimberly nodded. "And I know that I can always trust you to be there to listen to me, to care for me, to support me in whatever venture I decide to do and you know I'd do the same for you. And through everything we've proven that we can overcome it all." He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. When he opened them again, he gave a tiny smile. "I love you."

Kimberly's first reaction was to give a sigh of relief. She had wanted to kiss him, that's what she thought usually happened—it happened enough in her favorite romance movies—but it wasn't the right time. Instead, she gave him the biggest smile she could muster and he wrapped his arms around her. They stood there for a long time, taking each other in.

"I love you, too," she finally managed to say.

"Aww, how sweet!" The gravelly voice caused the two to immediately whip their heads around. Kimberly let out a slight gasp, moving a hand to her mouth when she saw Goldar standing behind them. He snarled, a sinister smile sliding on his face. Kimberly could feel Tommy steeling beside her, easily falling into his fighting stance. "And on a special day, too."

"What do you want, fang face?" Tommy goaded.

"Yeah, don't you have someone to spend the day with?" Kimberly added. She pretended to be horrified by her mistake. "Oh, sorry. Not even Rita would spend the day with _you_."

"You can joke all you want, pink ranger, but it's not going to stop me this time!" Goldar declared. He held out his hand and a large, turquoise gen fell out of the sky and landed in his hand.

"That must be the Azurite Healiodore," Tommy noted.

"We need to get it back from him!" Kimberly agreed.

"It's morphin' time! Tiger Zord!"

"Pterodactyl!"

Goldar enclosed his fist around the gem and he glowed a bright blue along with the gem. Once he opened his palm, the gem flew back up into the sky and Goldar let out a roar of excitement and swung his sword. With the swing, his sword emitted a big blast of blue lightning and while the bolt reached neither Kimberly nor Tommy, the shockwave of the blast sent them flying off their feet. Goldar swung his sword once more, this time sending out little bolts of electricity that struck them as they fell.

Kimberly fell onto her back with a loud gasp before being stunned by the pain. It hurt; it was blinding white hot pain that surged through her entire body, taking control of all of her muscles and having her write with pain. When he pain subsided, Kimberly took in frantic gasps of air, tears falling down her cheeks. Nothing that Rita and Zedd had ever thrown their way had been that strong.

"Kim, are you ok?" Tommy asked, appearing at her side.

He had Saba in his hand, holding it out in a way to shield himself when the time came. Kimberly glanced at him and her eyes widened, patches of his suit were burned away, the corner of his helmet had a crack in the corner. Looking down at her own suit, she could hers was in the same condition.

"Kim!?"

"Yeah," she finally managed to say. Her lips were cracked, throat dry. "Yeah, I'm ok. What was that?"

"I don't know, but we have to keep our eyes peeled," Tommy said.

Goldar let out another laugh and charged towards them, swinging his sword overhead. Tommy roughly shoved Kimberly aside and brought up Saba to block the strike. When the two swords collided there was an implosion. Dirt and dust flew everywhere and Kimberly was once again blown back by the shockwave. She scrambled to her knees when she got the chance, straining to see through the dust. "TOMMY!" She could hear someone moving, but wasn't sure if it was Goldar or her boyfriend.

The guy she loved.

The thought of anything happening to him now gripped her with more terror and fear than Rita ever could.

Gripping her arm, Kimberly got to her feet and started to stagger over to the crater. As the dust cleared she could see Tommy lying on the ground, barely moving as Goldar stood above him, a foot pressed to Tommy's helmet. Goldar continued to laugh, steadily applying pressure down onto Tommy's helmet. Kimberly felt her heart drop and everything faded away behind her.

It all moved in slow motion.

She could see each individual spider web like crack extend from the corner of his helmet spidering across the surface. She could see the pressure of Goldar's foot down onto Tommy's hand. She could see the slight twitches Tommy's hand made as he reached out.

Reached out towards her.

Kimberly dropped her arms to her side. "Power bow!" She called. Her power weapon appeared in her hands and while tears swam in her eyes, she pulled back on the boy, steadying it towards Goldar as long as she could. With a gut wrenching gasp, Kimberly let go of the bow and sent the arrows to Goldar. What would have normally caused him to shriek and writhe with pain bounced harmlessly off his back. Goldar merely looked over his shoulder at her before turning back to squishing her boyfriend like a bug. "No!" Kimberly continued to pull the bow, walking closer to Goldar, continuing to fire at him. "No!"

"Hang on, Kimberly!" Alpha's voice came through her helmet. Kimberly closed her eyes, dropping the bow to the ground. She shielded her face as there was a sudden bright light in front of her. When she dropped her arms, the Power Cube was floating in front of her. "The Power Cube is now yours to use," Zordon added.

Kimberly grasped the Power Cube in her hands and the light went from white to bright pink, encompassing the area around them in a bright pink dome. The burned patches on her suit mended themselves and she could feel her strength coming back to her. Once the light faded the Power Cube was gone, though Goldar was still taunting Tommy, periodically twisting his foot back and forth as he did so.

Hands starting to glow pink around her gloves, Kimberly took another step forward, thrusting out her hands. A giant gust of wind blew, rattling the trees around her like maracas. Goldar lifted his head and started to stab his sword at the sky. The wind continued to pick up speed. Kimberly pressed her lips together in concentration and focused not he power surging through her body. The wind continued until a funnel cloud appeared out of the sky, reaching towards the ground. Startled, Kimberly dropped her arms and backed away from Goldar. The wind ceased almost as quickly as it began.

_I'm not going to give up!_

With a cry, Kimberly lifted her hands again, this time focusing on the pink glow around her hands. Bolts of energy accompanied by gusts of wind shot towards Goldar and smacked him in the back. He let out a roar of pain and stumbled off of Tommy, turning to glare at her.

"You're going to pay for that pink ranger! With your life!" Goldar raised his sword once more, it starting to gather blue light.

"Power Staff!"

"Power Lance!"

Kimberly watched as Avalon and Billy flew overhead, weapons pointed towards Goldar. They slashed at the golden monster before jumping backwards out of reach. Then Trini, Zack, and Jason followed afterwards, their weapons brandished as well.

"Guys, be careful!" Kimberly called. "I don't know how much power he has, but he's using the Azurite Heliodor."

Seeing that Goldar was distracted, Kimberly hurried over to Tommy's side, lifting him up into a sitting position. Pressing her helmet close to his, she let out a sigh of relief, tightening her grip on his shoulders when she heard his breathing. It was faint, but he was still alive. Gazing over his helmet, Kimberly could see that it was dented in on one side, half of the protective eyewear having broken away so she could see the side of his face. Tiny pinpricks of blood, where the glass had etched into his skin, rolled down his cheek. His eyes slowly moved over to hers and crinkled at the corners.

Kimberly smiled back at him.

"She's right," Jason agreed. "Who knows what kind of power he has now."

"I don't think waiting around to find out is a good idea!" Avalon said, tightening her grip on her power staff. Releasing one hand, she thrust out another, shooting a stream of fire at the monster. Trini did the same, sending out bolts of electricity at him. Goldar snarled and held out his sword and, to the rangers' amazement, sucked in the elements.

"What?" Trini gasped.

"He absorbed the powers," Billy said.

"And now let's see how you feel about them!" Goldar held his sword in front of him with both hands.

"Everyone look out!" Zack cried.

It was too late. Goldar sent the attack back at them in a direct hit. Jason, Billy, Zack, Trini, and Avalon all tried in vain to shield themselves. The force of the blow flipped them to the ground, where they struggled to get back up, de-morphing. _The power of the heliodor must have tripled the strength of the attack when he sent it back to them, _Kimberly thought. _What can we do now?_

As Kimberly watched, Goldar brought his arms above his head and laughed evilly before disappearing in a wall of fire. She and Tommy de-morphed and she lifted him up, looking him over. She realized then he had taken an almost direct hit when the two swords had clashed together. Saba, before he disappeared, had lain prone on the ground; the metal portion of his sword had all but melted.

"Is everyone ok?" Jason asked, pushing himself up. He dusted off the tie that hung from around his neck, flipping it over his shoulder. He then turned and saw Kimberly struggling to get Tommy up. His head lolled back and forth, though he seemed to be coming to. "Is he ok?" He and the other rangers hurried over to their fallen leader.

"I'm OK guys," Tommy rasped out. "Don't worry." He put an arm around Kimberly's shoulders and leaned his weight against her. "So Goldar has it huh?" He looked around, his eyes narrowing.

"What's wrong, Tommy?" Trini asked anxiously.

Tommy shook his head then glanced down at Kimberly. She squeezed his hands then followed her gaze. She could feel her eyes widening as well, taking in what he was seeing. Nothing was out of place. The trees were gently blowing, sun was setting, and everything otherwise as still. There was no crater in the ground, no dirt on any of the cars parked in the driveway, not even Kimberly mother's had come outside to see what the commotion was. It was like everything had stopped around them and nothing could penetrate the barrier.

"When Goldar and Tommy were fighting, there was a blast," Kimberly said slowly, trying to wrap her head around it. "There was a crater in the ground but now…" She shook her head. "Nothing."

"There aren't any scorch marks either," Billy noted, hands on hips as he twisted back and forth. His hazel eyes scanned the grass and brush that lined the house. No indications that fire had come anywhere near them. "That's very peculiar."

"What does that mean?" Zack crossed his arms, huffing with anxiety. "Is this the only thing that Goldar can do with that gem? And if it's from space what else does it have the ability to do?" Each question came rapid fire to Billy, who blinked rapidly, trying to figure out how to respond to each one.

"Rack off, Zack!" Avalon jumped in. "He doesn't know any more than we do. So don't expect him to have all the answers."

"Guys!" Trini interrupted, holding her hands out. Once she was sure she had everyone's attention she lowered her voice to the sweet, dulcet tone that was her natural range. "Please don't argue about this. Avalon's right, Billy and the rest of us don't know anything about this. But Zack is also in the right for asking questions." She cocked her head to the side. "Though it is strange that Goldar didn't try to finish us off, he just…ran away."

"Well, as it is, there doesn't seem anything we can do about it now," Jason soothed. He placed a hand on her shoulder, squeezing it firmly. He turned back to Kimberly, whose grip on Tommy's hand had continued to increase in strength. "Sorry about all this, Kim. It's probably a birthday you're never going to forget."

"We can still make it to our reservation," Tommy insisted, suddenly sounding stronger than he had a minute before. He removed his arm from her shoulders and took her hand in his, enveloping it with the one movement. "If you're still up for it, that is."

Kimberly blinked for a moment before laughing at herself. Here she had been, so eager for her birthday when there was always something more important to worry about. She looked over her friends, taking in their dressy clothes and their formal wear. She hadn't felt such a warm wave of admiration for them until that moment. She brought a hand up and wiped a tear from her cheek.

"Aww Kim, don't cry." Trini reached out and hugged her best friend around the shoulders and rested her head against hers. She brought up a hand and wiped away the pink ranger's tear. "Today's supposed to be a happy day. Forget about what happened with Goldar."

"That's just the point," Kim insisted. "I can't." She clutched Trini as well. "Being a power ranger is just as much a part of me as having a birthday is. And…knowing that you guys were there to help me…" she glanced at Tommy. He managed to give her a warm smile. "It just reminded me of something someone told me before." She sucked in a deep breath, rolling back her shoulders. "I'm not going to be able to stop thinking about it," she said honestly. "But what happened with Goldar…I'm not going to have it ruin my day."

"That's good to hear," Zack said, pretending to let out a sigh of relief. He brought out a hand, smacking Jason on the chest. "Because we were hoping for some cake." Jason laughed and shoved Zack away from him.

"Good to know that's all you care about," Kimberly said, sticking her nose in the air.

"Hey, I got you a good present, I think it deserves some cake." To prove his point, Zack stuck his hand into the inside of his coat and produced a small velvet box. He lifted it to show Kim and laughed when her eyes widened. "Glad to know we understand each other."

"Well, you're probably going to get more than cake," Avalon said, kicking at the ground. She let out a sigh, lifting her chin. "I didn't have any idea of what to get you for a gift, Pinkerbell, especially on such short notice since it wasn't until recently I found out when it was." She continued to shuffle her feet. "So I just made you brownies for you for a gift."

"I didn't know you could bake," Jason remarked.

"Neither did I," Billy agreed.

Avalon smirked over at the blue ranger. "If your parents weren't so insisting that they cater to me and Bailey on that sort of thing, Smurf, you probably would," she said then waved it off with nonchalance. "Anyway, I'm going to get you something better to make up for it, Kim."

Kimberly clasped her hands together. "That's alright, Av," she said. "Brownies are my favorite dessert, anyway." She turned at the sound of the front door to the house opening. Ms. Hart blinked in surprise when she spotted all of the rangers standing in her driveway. Gently pulling the door until it was a crack behind her, she stepped out onto the front porch. "Oh! Hey, Mom!"

"Hey," Ms. Hart replied. She waved to the group, who all waved back at her. "Honey, weren't you and Tommy going out for dinner before heading off to the dance? I thought that's why he came by." Her eyes then moved around the street, eyebrows furrowing in confusion. "How did you all get here?"

"We ran," Avalon deadpanned. Her lips twitched as she tried not to laugh out loud. Jason brought a hand up around her head and placed it over her mouth, pulling her head onto his shoulder. He gave a disarming smile as Avalon reached out her hands, trying to push Jason away from her.

"Um." Kimberly bit her lower lip as she smiled at her friends. "Mom, is it OK if we all just have dinner here?"

"What about the dance?" Trini reminded her.

Kimberly waved a hand. "Forget about it," she said with a smile. "As long as I'm with you guys I don't care what I do for my birthday." She squeezed Tommy's arm as she leaned into him, giving everyone a mega-watt smile that only someone in love could.

Avalon finally pushed Jason's hand off of her mouth, giving him a warning look before turning to Kimberly and saying, "Aww, that's so sweet." She smirked.

Kimberly placed her hands on her hips. "Are you ever happy?" She demanded.

"Are you ever not?" Avalon returned, eyebrow rising.

"God we're never going to hear the end of it." Jason pinched the bridge of his nose, shaking his head. He then stepped up between the pink and orange rangers, putting their arms around their shoulders. "Why don't you just agree that you're completely opposite of each other and leave it at that?"

"Because things wouldn't be nearly as fun," Trini replied with a slight roll of her eyes. She exchanged a smile with Billy. "I'm OK with staying here if you are."

"Anything that would keep him from dancing, I think he'll jump at the chance," Zack said.

"It's better than being a showoff," Billy returned, causing Zack to laugh.

"If we're going to have dinner here, then we have to get Bailey," Tommy insisted. "You know she wouldn't want to miss it."

"Leave that to me," Avalon said with a wave of her hand.

"Alright then." Trini sighed and smiled, turning to Ms. Hart. "If you'll have us, we'd love to stay in and celebrate Kim's birthday with you." Ms. Hart smiled back at the yellow ranger.

"I'd love that," she said and took a step back, holding out her arm. "Just gather on in to the dining room and we'll see what we can do with what we have."

Trini placed her hand in Billy's and led the way into the house. The other rangers followed as Kimberly trailed behind them. Gently rubbed her arms, she followed them into the house, closing the door behind her. Right before the bolt latched into place, Kimberly could sense the wind picking up. As if it was letting her know it wasn't going to let her down. Kimberly glanced down at her fingertips for a moment with a knowing smile before locking the door. Following her friends she stopped in the doorway of the dining room next to the white ranger. The tiny cuts had already stopped bleeding and he had wiped the blood away. The only indication that they had been in a fight with Goldar was what looked like little shaving nicks.

Tommy wrapped an arm around her waist, giving her a kiss on the side of the head. "Happy Birthday, Kim."

Kimberly wrapped her arms around his waist in return, watching as her friends as they seated themselves at the dining room talking, talking and laughing with each other. She smiled up at him and squeezed him once more.

* * *

**A/N: **So I needed something sweet between Fred and Bailey. I think I'm one of the few that didn't mind Fred in the MMPR movie, but that's another topic for debate. Haha. Uh, I think the portion I had Tommy and Kimberly say that they loved each other was in character for Tommy…but I think it may have been a bit rushed as well. I don't know; I'm always iffy about how I do romantic scenes, so I hope you all at least liked it.

For those wondering, I managed to figure out _Something's Gotta Give _so it'll be updated this weekend.

**~Avalon**


	6. Chapter 6: Parents Just Don't Understand

**Chapter 06**

_Parents Just Don't Understand_

* * *

"Have a good evening, Captain."

Captain Mitchell nodded to the doorman and left the looming building behind him to find his car in the car park. His footsteps echoed on the concrete, swirling around him and buffeting him on all sides. He had his lips pressed together in a stern expression, one that he had perfected over the years of hard work and gaining respect of those that were working around him. Such as his hard work to go up in ranks. As he reached his car he slid inside and quickly closed the door behind him.

Once he was safely inside, doors locked, he leaned forward, resting his forehead on the steering wheel, breathing heavily, feeling an anxiety attack coming on. That's what happened every time he got into a car now, ever since the accident years before. He couldn't get over it. Why couldn't he get over it? He had saved his son and his daughter as well as his own life. So why wasn't that enough?

He continued to sit there for a few minutes, sucking in deep breaths and doing his best not to break out into sobs. Finally regaining his composure he started the car and drove back to his house. His composure was stone cold, not looking left nor right as he drove back to his house. He pressed his lips together, clenching his jaw, trying to forget everything around him.

His stress had leveled out a bit by the time he had reached his house, but still felt it surging through his veins. That all changed once he opened the front door to his house.

"Hey, Dad!"

Captain Mitchell smiled and followed the voice of his daughter into the kitchen. Dana Mitchell stood at the stove, stirring a pot of a spaghetti sauce. She turned around and flashed her father a warm smile as he walked over to his spot at the table, taking off his hat and laying it down at his spot. "How was your day?"

"Stressful to say the least," Captain Mitchell replied. He took a deep breath, trying to push the car ride out of his head. He didn't want her to worry. She had forgotten about the car accident years ago, not remembering that she had even had a brother before. He briefly closed his eyes, turning away from her. It had hurt at first, when she stopped asking about Ryan and went on with her life. He had to hide the old pictures, act like he didn't exist, just so they didn't have to worry about triggering anything when she was young. "We didn't get a lot done; there were so many emergency meetings and things going wrong."

"Well, now that you're home you can relax," Dana said. She turned back to the stove, turning off the burner underneath the pot. "So guess what?"

"What?" Captain Mitchell sat down in his seat and watched Dana as she transferred the pot to a burner that was off, and picked up the pot of noodles. "Oh, did you get your biology test back?"

"Yes, that's it!" Dana beamed and hurried over to her backpack as it sat on the counter. She ruffled through it and practically skipped over to her father, waving it as she did so. "Check it out." Putting a hand on her father's shoulder, Dana passed the test into her father's hands. He looked it over, eyes lighting up when he spotted the 'A' resting at the top of the page.

"That's great, sweetie." He leaned up and gave her a kiss on the side of the head. "You studied really hard for this."

"I know," Dana agreed. She sat down in the chair next to him. Resting her chin in her hands she let out a heavy sigh. "Studying for a week straight and I get an A." She rolled her eyes. "And here I thought trying to become a doctor would be easy." When her father didn't laugh along with her, her smile wilted to a frown, noticing he was staring off into space. "Daddy are you ok?" She reached out a hand, grabbing onto his wrist.

_Avalon always said she wanted to become a doctor, _Captain Mitchell thought. _And Bailey wanted to be a scientist if I remember correctly. _He was lost in his thoughts once more, of the kids he had given up. Four kids and he had only one left and now Ellie was going to bring the girls back into their lives? How was he going to explain that to Dana? How was he going to defend himself when his wife had been so sick and he had been so lonely…? What was it that ultimately drove him to that point? He couldn't put a finger on it. One day he was working his normal routine, saying goodbye to Ryan, leaving him with Angela, who had been their babysitter at the time, and running off to work. It had been around that time he had met Ellie and things progressed from there.

Their relationship had moved in a whirlwind and before he had known what happened, she was pregnant with Avalon. Then he found to about Dana. His life would have been ruined if either woman found out about the other, so he took the coward's way out and kept them in the dark about each other. Whenever Captain Mitchell went on a 'business trip' he would go to see Ellie, who didn't know Captain Mitchell was married. There were so many complicated factors, he wouldn't be able to defend himself and still be seen as a man that should be respected in the eyes of those around him. He knew that. It was how the guilt and anxiety continued to grow, knowing at any moment things could come crashing down around him and he could lose everyone.

"Daddy?" Dana's voice broke through his thoughts.

Captain Mitchell smiled warmly at his daughter. The light of his life…the one he had big hopes for. If things worked out. His experiments failed the first few times, weird side effects had been exposed, an innocent person got in the way, but they were making progress.

Soon they were going to be able to be the first to do something no one had heard of before. Too bad so many people had to become victims of it.

"I'm ok, Dana," Captain Mitchell said. He placed his hand on top of hers and squeezed it back as well. "Just a little tired." He dropped his hands from hers and stood up, pushing the chair back away from him. "I'm going to take a shower, and then I'll be down so we can eat."

"Ok." Dana's worry left her face and she smiled once more.

Captain Mitchell turned on his heel and left the kitchen, heading up the stairs to his room. He knew one day soon he was going to have to come clean with everything, his double life and what he was working on when he went to work.

Now just wasn't the time.

* * *

Ellie Mitchell pushed her blonde hair out of her face as she looked around her tiny bedroom. In front of her an open suitcase stuffed to the brim threatened to spill its contents onto the floor. She pressed a hand to her chin. Maybe she was thinking too much about this? Sure, the LA weather could be unpredictable; would it be hot or cool? Cloudy or Sunny? It barely rained, so she didn't know why she was even trying to stuff an umbrella in there when she didn't have any room.

Her nervous energy was starting to take her over. Reaching up a hand she pressed her hand to her mouth, starting to chew on the ends of her nails. _What am I doing? _She turned and reached behind her, picking up the plane tickets that were carefully set aside not to get mixed up with everything that had been scattered around in her haste to get her things together.

She was to arrive in Angel Grove that weekend.

To become a mother to her daughters again? Did they want her back? Did they want to know what it was that caused them to fall into a hard life? Would they forgive her? The questions continued to swirl around her as the seconds passed, causing her to start to unpack her bag once more. No. She couldn't do this. She couldn't just pop in and think that things were going to be ok. Especially without a phone call first. Would a phone call even go well? It's not like she could suddenly pop onto the line and say 'hi it's your mother, the one you haven't seen in three years?'

Yeah, that'd be beauty.

But she owed it to herself to see what was going to happen. She wasn't the bad guy in the situation. She was a victim of circumstance just like they had been. And while she had kept the sadness inside, she had become stronger because of it. Having to start new and work her career from the bottom up was a stepping stone to get back on her feet.

Now all she had to do was tell herself to stop changing her mind.

* * *

Jason frowned as he flexed in the mirror. He twisted to the sound, moving his hands into fists and pushing out his muscles as far as they would go. After studying his reflection for a moment, he shook his head. With a slight grunt of frustration he turned from the mirror and grabbed onto a jump rope that was sitting on the back of his desk chair. Stretching it between his hands he flipped it over his head and started to whip it around over his head and under his feet, kicking his legs in and out as he did so.

His breaths came out ragged as he worked hard, moving back and forth across the bedroom floor as he did so. When he felt he had jumped an adequate amount of times he dropped the jump rope to the floor and started to do a series of pushups and sit ups. He was in his second set of sit ups when he heard a knock on his bedroom door.

"Yeah?" He called. The door opened and he looked up as his mother stuck her head inside, her eyes roaming around the room before lowering and spotting her son on the floor. "Hey Mom." Jason sat up, wrapping his arms around his knees. Sweat beaded across his forehead, his chest rising and falling in big swells. "What's up?"

"I was going to ask you the same thing," Marissa replied. She walked into the room and perched herself on the edge of her son's bed. "Didn't you already work out this morning?" She crossed her legs and looked down at Jason as he let go of his knees and started to do sit ups once more. "And have a martial arts class?"

"Yeah, so?" Jason returned.

"Is there a tournament coming up? Is that why you're working so hard?"

"I always work hard, Mom. I'm just…working harder than I normally do."

"Is this because of your hospital stay?"

Jason paused in his sit-up, hands behind his head. His stomach and body quivered for a moment as he continued to hold himself in a limbo between the floor and his full sit up. No. This had absolutely nothing to do with being sent to the hospital. That had been such a fluke anyway. If he had jumped out at someone in the dead of night when they were too busy looking at their phone, he was sure he'd be able to send someone into the hospital as well. The only difference was that he was trained not to do so, due to martial arts and because of the sense of responsibility he held. He wouldn't be able to look himself in the mirror if he had caused harm to someone just because he had the means to do so. Even Bulk and Skull managed to work on his nerves and he restrained himself from the urge to knock them both out.

"What would that have to do with anything?" He asked her.

Marissa gave her son a knowing smile, crossing her legs the other way. "Well, you never particularly liked them," she reminded him. "Also considering the fact that you always said it was getting in the way of your workouts whenever you even had to go in for a checkup or a simply shot."

"A strong mind can be just as helpful as a strong body," Jason reminded her. He lifted a finger. "That's one of the first few things that we learn when you are starting out with martial arts." He dropped his hand at his mother's eye roll. "I'm just trying to catch up with the ones I missed while I was there." He held up his hands. "Ok, so it has to do with my hospital stay a little bit, but it's nothing you should be worried about. I'll be back to my normal self in a couple of days."

Marissa nodded and gave him a kiss on the side of the head. "Don't push yourself too hard or else you'll burn yourself out." She squeezed his shoulder. "You remember that one time when your father burned out?" Jason couldn't help but smile at the memory. His father, Caine, who was probably the strongest man Jason had ever known had turned into a baby when he was bedridden for a couple of days due to stress and constantly working out. He had essentially treated his wife and son like maids, asking for every little thing. And it wasn't until Marissa had literally smacked sense into him with a pillow that he had scaled back until he was able to get back on his feet.

"I can't afford to have that happen," Jason replied. _No one can. _He felt his hands clench into fists as he thought about Goldar. He clearly had more power than they could ever imagine. It was going to take a lot of work for them to stop whatever Rita and Zedd were planning to take over the world this time.

"So why don't you take a break for tonight then?"

"Is that your way of telling me to stop making so much noise?"

Jason laughed as Marissa ruffled her son's hair and stood up from his bed, leaving the room. He waited as she softly closed the door behind him, hearing the lock click into place before getting up from his bed. He leaned over and shoved his hand underneath his pillow, moving it out of the way of his morpher—he couldn't risk having that lying around whenever he was at home—and grabbing not a tiny bottle. Pulling it out from underneath the covers he glanced over the label for a moment, moving his mouth to the side. He pulled open the bottle and dumped an orange pill into his hand.

He replaced the cap of the bottle and replaced it under his pillow before grabbing the water bottle that was sitting on his desk. He tossed the pill into his mouth and quickly tried to flush it down with water. The chalkiness of the pill coated his tongue a few seconds before the water could wash it down and he felt his face contort with disgust. He stuck out his tongue, gagging between continuous sips of water.

He went back to the mirror and flexed once more. This time, however, he even went as far as to poke his biceps, triceps, and his stomach muscles, running his fingers up and down his arms. He turned away from the mirror with a heavy sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose.

He then lifted his hand and smashed his fist into his palm.

* * *

Avalon looked up at Bulk and Skull as they walked over to her locker. "Hey, I haven't seen you lot around," she said, closing her locker door with a firm press of her palm. "Have you been in detention this whole time?"

"Mr. Kaplan has threatened us with that so many times," Bulk said. "I doubt he's even going to try." He pursed his lips as he leaned against her locker, crossing his arms over his chest. There was an air of pride in his voice. "Besides, we've moved on to bigger and better things."

"Yeah!" Skull agreed, noisily chewing gum. "Bigger and better things!" Bulk shot him an annoyed glance as Skull opened his mouth and jammed another piece of gum into his mouth. "Where we leave this high school in our dust!"

Avalon's eyebrow rose as she took a step back away from her locker and closed the door, throwing her bag over her shoulders. "Do you plan on blowing up the school?"

"Knowing our luck a monster attack will come up first," Bulk said. He held his hands up in the shape of a square. "And then we'd get an even better shot of the Power Rangers ups close!" Skull did the same movement with his hands, causing Avalon to laugh. "We'll let the monster distract them, then rip their heads off!"

"Good luck with that, mate," Avalon said. She patted him on the shoulder then took a step back, sliding her hands into the back pockets of her jean shorts. "Are you blokes going to prom? I didn't see you at Homecoming much." She immediately felt the side of her face twitch, knowing how stupid it was to mention it. Of course she hadn't seen them at the Homecoming dance. She and the rangers were too busy trying to keep the school from being attack. She started to smile, if only they had gone outside while the dance was going on, they would have been able to get the identities of the rangers with no problem.

"Well we might not be around anytime soon," Skull said. He smirked, taking his hands up and grabbing onto the lapels of his leather jacket. He made a show of tugging on them before running a comb through his hair. "We may still get offers though, women love men in uniform."

Avalon rolled her head over towards Bulk. "What's he talking about?"

Bulk smirked, crossing his arms over his chest. "What he means is that we're bigger and better than this school and we're going to prove it…by become police men." Avalon's jaw dropped as she looked back and forth between the two of them. "Yep, they have a junior cadet program opening soon and we were thinking of entering."

Avalon closed her mouth and pressed a hand to her forehead before slapping her hands onto her hips. "Are you a few sheep short of a station?" She cried. "I mean, I knew you two could act like boofheads sometimes, but I never thought you'd take a beauty opportunity like this and threw it away?"

Bulk and Skull stared at Avalon for a long moment before exchanging a glance and looking at her again. Skull leaned towards Bulk, speaking in a loud whisper. "What did she say?"

"I have no idea," Bulk whispered back. He looked over at Skull and, noticing how close his best friend was, reached a hand out and pushed Skull away from him. "Ugh! Don't stand so close to me!" Avalon laughed as he fell amongst the lockers, creating a loud bang, then fell to the ground. The orange ranger reached out a hand and helped him to his feet.

"Something tells me I shouldn't expect you two to be the ones that save me if I ever get in trouble," she said, brushing her hair behind her ear. Cocking her head to the side she studied the two boys. "What made you want to get into the police force anyway?"

"You know we would have waited until the end of the school year if we hadn't gotten kicked out," Skull said. Bulk turned and glared at him, clenching his jaw and slowly pushing his lips out. Skull, blissfully unaware continued to smile as the silence trickled through.

"You got kicked out?" Avalon repeated. She scratched the back of her neck.

Out of anyone that had been at the school she figured she was the front runner to be kicked out. Her study habits still weren't going that well and she was going to have to work her add off to raise her grade high enough to pass the school year. But even she had started to change her ways and was trying to turn things around. Come to think of it, she hadn't really seen Bulk and Skull at school at all. She had been so focused on what was going on with her and the rangers that she had seemingly forgotten the first friends she had made while at Angel Grove.

Even though they were the resident bullies there, they had been around to make her feel comfortable. She had expected them to become some of her best friends rather than the rangers had become.

"We didn't get kicked out, we decided to walk," Bulk said. Skull gave him a confused look and he pushed him away once more. "We have bigger and better things to do than this school and we're going to prove that we can be some of Angel Grove's finest."

Did that mean they were going to be able to see her police records? Avalon felt her heart drop as soon as the words came to mind. The news of her taking the blame for everything the Vipers hadn't come out yet, but it was only a matter of time. Knowing she was starting her community service in a couple of hours didn't help matters much. But if they had seen all of the crimes that had fallen to her, the times of her past arrests though she had been released with little to no charges against her. She decided to change the subject.

"Well if school's not for you, it's not for you; I just hope that you don't have to use a gun anytime soon." She turned on her heel and left her locker, heading towards the entrance to the school. "Not that they'd know what to do with one if they had it," she muttered under her breath.

"You know the first sign of insanity is talking to yourself, Kid," Zack's voice wafted from her right and Avalon looked up to see the black and red rangers flanking her sides.

"Too late for that," Avalon replied. "Didn't you already know I'm crazy?"

"Completely psychotic is more like it," Jason teased.

Avalon elbowed him in the side. "Ow!" Feeling her elbow hit nothing but strong muscle, Avalon rubbed the skin, taking a step back away from him. "Hey Rudolph, I know you're upset that the others wouldn't let you join in their reindeer games, but you need to lay off the bodybuilding." She gave him the side eye. "You're giving a new definition to the term meat-head."

Jason stopped in his tracks. "It's something I like to do," he defended himself. "I didn't ask for your opinion."

"I didn't ask for my elbow to be bruised either," Avalon pointed out. "And look where that got me."

Zack, sensing a fight brewing, stepped between the two rangers and pushed them away from each other. "Ok, let's not have a lover's spat," he said jokingly. "I don't have enough popcorn for that." At Jason's eyebrow raise and Avalon's snort Zack rolled his eyes. "Ok children, but don't act like I've never tried to help you."

"You wouldn't have to help anything if she didn't have such a big ego!" Jason snapped, gesturing violently towards the orange ranger. Avalon blinked, taking a step back and exchanging a glance with Zack. Zack looked back at her. The two were thinking the same thing: there was something wrong with Jason.

"Jase, man, are you ok?" Zack placed a hand on Jason's shoulder. "Is there something bugging you."

Jason shook his head shifting his backpack to his other shoulder. The three walked to the entrance of the school and down the crowded front steps, careful not to get in the way of the other students who were in a rush to get away from school. One Jason turned back to Zack and Avalon he suddenly had a bright smile on his face.

_Yep, I was right, _Avalon thought, feeling her face screw up at the sudden change in his demeanor. _This guy is nuts. _

"What are you guys up to?" He asked them. "I was going to meet Tommy, Kim, Trini, and Billy at the Youth Center if you guys don't have anything to do."

"Sorry, Dad's taking me to the store to get some football equipment," Zack apologized with a mild-mannered shrug. He turned back to Avalon, who crossed her arms, jutting out her right hip in an expression of defiance.

"I have my first round of community service to do," she said. She raised a hand and waved it around in a circle, middle finger up. "I have to stop by the police station, see where I'm going to be assigned, and then head over for the first couple of hours today."

"We can give you a lift," Zack offered. "It's on the way." He then turned and punched Jason on the arm. "Or Jase can with his massive hulk-like muscles." This time Jason laughed along with Avalon and Zack. Zack's laughter faded though he still had a smile on his face.

"I'll take you up on that offer when I break my legs," Avalon replied, rolling her eyes.

"Whatever you say, Avie," Jason replied with a nonchalant wave of his hand. Avalon nodded and turned her head when movement caught her eye. She watched as Chase crossed the street down on the corner, head tilted down with a backwards cap on, still dressed in a mechanics uniform. She vaguely remembered when he said he was going to get a job at the nearby auto shop to keep an eye on her after she had joined the Vipers.

_I wonder if he's still there for the same reason._

"Just be careful," Jason added. He must have noticed what had caught her attention. Avalon could tell by the tone of his voice that he had wanted to say more. He dropped the subject knowing how she wasn't going to change her mind. He didn't want a repeat of the last time they had that conversation when the two had screamed at each other in Ernie's. All he had to do was be supportive, and hopefully things would be easier for her.

"Thanks Dad," Avalon said sarcastically as she watched Chase move off down the street.

There was a sudden gust of wind and Zack and Jason brought their arms up to shield their faces from the buffeting winds. When they lowered them they noticed Avalon not standing by them anymore and an orange blur disappearing down the street.

* * *

**A/N: **I wanted a chapter that went back to Avalon's and Bailey's parents before I get back into the plot with Rita, Zedd, and the Azurite Healidore; said plot will cover most of the story until I feel it needs to end. Next chapter has to do a bit more of the Vipers.

Plus it's a hint as to what's going to happen in a future chapter so… ;)

**~Avalon**


	7. Chapter 7: Guilty Pleasures

**Chapter 07**

_Guilty Pleasures_

* * *

Avalon twisted her mouth to the side flicking open and closed the top of the lighter that she balanced between her palms. The light clink was the only sound in the room. Skye sat at the top of the lookout tower, watching the streets below him. Only the usual people were on the streets, it was a boring position to been assigned but he knew not to question it. He had other areas of interest that were his greater strengths and he had proven it time and time again.

And yet he had to continue to sit under Chase's thumb and listen to his every word and do exactly as he was told. Skye had been there from the very beginning and had been by Chase's side as the numbers of the Vipers continued to dwindle day by day. He could see Chase's grip slipping—why else would he want to start working with Tim—it was only a matter of time until it was gone completely.

Avalon turned away from Skye when she heard footsteps heading their way. Out of the corner of her eye, Avalon could see Skye poke his head out from underneath the railing and watched as Chase, Tim, and Summer appeared from around the corner, coming from one of the extra rooms of the warehouses. Avalon leaned back on the couch, placing her head on the headrest, angling her chin down to look directly at them, though so it didn't appear she was watching their every move. Crossing her legs at the ankle she placed her hands on her power morpher, wondering if there was any chance that a monster attack would happen that would get her out of there.

"Alright, we got some stuff we need to do," Chase said, clasping his hands together. "Though the police have caused us to hold back for a while, Tim,"—he angled his head back towards the High Flyer leader that stood by his side. His tattoos that were visible on his neck showed different tribal designs that, all together, appeared sharper and more threatening. "Has some intel that will keep us running for a while."

Especially now that he was standing in the middle of his rival gang territory.

Who knew if he was really trying to help them out or was just waiting for the perfect moment to strike back and destroy the Vipers from the inside out?

_Not that it'd be that difficult to do right now, _Avalon thought. She sat up straight, turning her attention back to Chase as he continued to speak. Tilting his head to the side, he scratched his lower jaw, the stubble that had formed over the past couple of days sprouting up around the harsh scar in his jaw.

"Speaking of…" Avalon sat up and reached into her pocket, pulling out a pair of brass knuckles. She juggled them in her hand for a moment before tossing them over to Chase, who shot out his hand and snatched the weapon out of the air. "Bay gave me those to give to you." Her eyes shifted over to Tim, who looked back at her. He even spat on the ground without breaking eye contact with her. "Someone from his crew gave it to my sister to give to you." Her eyebrow rose. "I thought you said you were going to leave Bailey out of this."

Tim shrugged as he spoke up, Chase stayed inconspicuously quiet. He had taken his gaze from Avalon and over to Summer, who had made a show of draping her arm around the gang leader's waist, leaning into his side.

"I wasn't aware that an arrangement had been made," Tim said, his eyebrows rising. Was there amusement in his eyes? No entirely sure, the orange ranger looked away, instead, tightening her grip around the power morpher. It was a source of comfort to her now. She had no idea when that happened. "Though now I'll be sure to keep your sister out of this." His tone was condescending; everyone in the room could hear it and feel it in the tension that had suddenly surrounded them.

Avalon lifted a hand and flipped him off.

"As I was _saying_!"—Chase's glare moved from Avalon to Skye, who continued to sit in the rafters, watching everything unfold. "We have a tip for a hit as well as to make some money. But we have to go into High-Flyer territory to get it done."

"How do you know you can trust it?" Skye questioned. He was now glaring back at Tim who appeared to be a little too comfortable with the conversation. Avalon knew the concerns he had; they were the same that she was quietly harboring. Why was Tim the only one of the High-Flyers that was doing anything with the Vipers? What had happened to the others? Yes a lot of both gangs had been nicked by the police when there was the giant drug bust, but did that mean that the purple clad gang affiliates were really trying to help?

"Are you questioning me?" Chase knocked Summer's tight grip off of his waist and addressed the whole room, his manic voice echoing off the rafters and around the metal. His facial expression had done a quick one-eighty, changing from a sense of neutrality to extreme anger. If looks could kill, they would all have been buried six feet under just by one glance. "When I've done nothing but help you by bringing you in—"

"Not this again," Skye murmured, shaking his head.

"Do you want me to fucking go up there and do something?" Chase snarled at him.

"If fucking Summer is going to help you feel better at all go ahead." Skye waved an arm back towards the stairs. "Do whatever you want, the rest of us will just sit back and do whatever it is you ask us to do, acting like your little sheep when it suits you." He slapped the metal staircase before walking down it, footsteps clomping loudly as he did so, as if putting an exclamation point on his words. "God dammit, do you not get what's going on out there?! We have nothing other than this and you're tearing it apart because you can't lead!" He crossed his arms. "If Dusty were here—"

"Fuck off!" Chase snapped. He grabbed the front of Skye's shirt and pulled him into his face. Chase's face had turned a nasty shade of magenta. He removed his hand from the front of Skye's shirt to around his neck, painfully pressing the tips of his fingers into the skin above his Adam's apple, his thumb pushing Skye's chin upwards. "If you have a problem with the way I run things, then you won't have to worry about it anymore." With his free hand, he pulled out a pocket knife and held it to Skye's throat, hard enough to draw blood from the point. Before anyone could move, Chase pulled the knife across Skye's throat.

Summer let out a scream, muffled behind her hands and Avalon sat up straight, eyes wide, heart starting to beat in her chest. Skye fell to his knees, holding onto the front of his neck, let out slight gasping sounds. No. Avalon swallowed thickly. Did she really just witness that in front of her? By her own two eyes? Her dark eyes shifted to Chase, who looked coolly down at Skye. Beside him, Tim merely glanced at Skye as if he were a gnat buzzing around his head. _What happened to him? _She never remembered him being like that before.

Not even when he had been beating her up, there was a bit of restraint on his end. The pressure must have been getting to him more than she originally realized. At the thought, she felt a slight twinge of guilt, much like she had when she was running back and forth to help them and the rangers. She knew now that the Vipers weren't good for her, but how easy was it to turn your back on people that had helped her when she had literally nothing.

"Oh relax you big pussy," Chase said. He rolled his eyes, putting the knife back in his pocket. "I barely did any damage." Reaching down with his large hand, he grabbed Skye's shoulder and heaved him to his feet. Skye moved his hands from his neck, revealing a tiny line, the blood already stemming. He shoved Skye away from him and reached into his bulging leather jacket pocket, producing a large bag of white powder.

Ignoring Summer's outstretched hand; he walked over to Avalon and pressed it into her hand. "Hold onto this for me, I don't need it for a few days." Avalon nodded and tightened her grip on the bag. Chase turned back to Tim and nodded, motioning for him to follow him. Skye obediently went as well. "You girls stay here, keep watch and take stock of everything."

"No problem," Summer said confidently.

It fell on deaf ears as the three boys left the warehouse, tires squealing that let the girls know the guys had left. Avalon turned to Summer and was met with a sharp slap to the side of the face. Avalon's eyes narrowed into a glare and she turned back to the other girl, ducking out of the way as another slap headed towards her opposite cheek. Avalon transferred the baggie to her other hand and instinctively punched Summer on the cheek. She could have used her extra strength to knock her out in one hit, but restrained herself or else she would have an arson charge on her as well.

It had taken her a while to get used to her enhanced speed and strength, but this time was one where she wanted nothing but to use them as she pleased.

Summer stumbled back, grabbing her cheek. "I don't know what you think you're doing," She hissed. "But you're ruining everything."

Avalon snorted, her fingers twitching at her sides. She itched to hit her again. "I haven't done anything that the rest of you lot have, if you're blaming me for the fall of all of us,"—she waved a hand around the warehouse. "Then you're even more of a boofhead than I thought."

"We wouldn't have this problem if Chase wasn't putting so much of his attention on _you_ trying to make sure you know where your loyalties lie!" Summer spat, eyes flashing. She crossed her arms, starting to pace back and forth. "None of this would have happened if he didn't take you in the first place!"

Avalon nearly laughed out loud. She had the same thoughts, but towards being a ranger at the very beginning. It was ironic how those simple thoughts described two different parts of her life. At Avalon's struggle to hide her laughter Summer let out a shriek and got up in the orange ranger's face.

"We were fine before you got here—"

Avalon scowled and dropped the baggie to her feet. She grabbed Summer by the hair and twisted her fist in it, wrenching the girl's head back and pulling her to her shoulder at the same time. Summer struggled to get away, but the orange ranger continued to tighten her grip on her hair so that every inch she moved, her hair was pulled. "Touch me again and I swear I'll break your neck," Avalon hissed into her ear. "What I'm doing is none of you goddamn business and if you try to get into it again, you'll fucking regret it." She shoved Summer away from her, propelling her across the warehouse.

"You bitch!" Summer swore. She started towards the orange ranger then seemed to think better of it. Turning on her heel, she stalked towards her room. "Chase made a big mistake bringing you here," she repeated.

With a growl, Avalon turned and punched the wall behind her.

…

..

.

Avalon let out a sigh as she walked into the Cranston house later that night. The den was empty, the TV off, a light left on. Glancing at her watch, Avalon saw that she had come back in time for curfew. Relaxing a little, she shifted the bag of powder against her side, peeling off her leather jacket and draping it over her arm. Perfect. She started to go up the stairs when she spotted a form on the couch. Leaning over the banister, Avalon caught a glimpse of Billy and Trini sitting o the couch; Trini had her head resting on Billy's shoulder as the two of them looked over a textbook, reading quietly. Avalon gave a brief smile then went up to hers and Bailey's room.

She passed the bathroom, hearing the shower running and knew her sister didn't have much longer to go in there. Bailey had a habit of taking short showers. Avalon's nerves immediately skyrocketed and she zipped into her room with her enhanced speed, knocking over her guitar as it rested in the corner. Her fingers pressed into the plastic bag as her dark eyes moved around the room. _Where can I hide this?_

"Oh, Avalon, I thought I heard you come in," Mrs. Cranston's voice sounded behind her.

Startled, Avalon whirled around, the bag still in my hand. Her eyes widened. "What?" She blurted out before she was able to stop herself. _Nice going, Av. Like she doesn't suspect anything from that lame excuse._

Mrs. Cranston chuckled as she entered the room, carrying a laundry basket. "I said, I didn't hear you come in," she said. "Billy told me that you went out to the library to study." Avalon lowered her gaze, immediately feeling a warm sense of gratitude for the blue ranger. Without having to ask he covered for her when he suddenly disappeared. She made a mental note to thank him for it later. "So how was school today? Are things getting easier?" She continued to look at Avalon with a level gaze and a sweet smile, and yet, Avalon started to sweat.

Numbly, Avalon started to nod. And…she couldn't stop. She nodded and nodded, like a giant bobble head that someone had flicked. Her hand tightened on the plastic bag, the palm suddenly filled with sweat. How much was she sweating? Did Mrs. Cranston notice? How could she not notice?

"Avalon, are you ok, sweetie?"

Avalon cringed as the word crashed into her brain. Sweetie? No! Any name but that.

Her stomach plummeted, burning a hole through her body. Mrs. Cranston's face took on a look of utmost concern; the burning hole expanded. Avalon's heart raced. Time slowed down around her like a candle flame in the wind. A deafening hum reached the orange ranger's ears as Mrs. Cranston's mouth opened and closed, the humming grew louder. Mrs. Cranston's mouth started to move faster and now she was pointing towards the floor. No, not at the floor, at the bag of cocaine in Avalon's hands.

Painfully, the world spun back to the dreaded moment I tried to block out. Avalon blinked at her. "Sorry, Lacey, what did you say?"

"What's that?" Mrs. Cranston held out her hand and started to walk towards her.

Avalon thought quickly, trying to think of the best excuse that would explain the situation. Why would she suddenly be holding a bag of white powder? "Its baking soda!" Avalon gave a small smile. "It's for a project at school."

"A volcano?"

"Maybe." Avalon nodded, moving the bag behind her back. "It's a surprise," she added, immediately squeezing her eyes shut. And now she was lying to one of the people that had gone out of their way and took her in. Some thank you.

"I hope things work out then," Mrs. Cranston said with a warm smile. She dropped the laundry basket on the floor by Avalon's bed and started towards the door again. "Though, if you need something stronger than baking soda, I'm sure David and I have a compound stronger than sodium bicarbonate that we can spare to help you out."

"No worries, Lacey," Avalon said quickly.

Mrs. Cranston smiled once more. "The offer still stands; let us know if you need any help."

"Sure." Avalon waited until Mrs. Cranston left the room, closing the door behind her, before walking over to her bed and shoving her arm down the back corner, where the headrest met the wall. Twisting her hand, Avalon pushed the bag of cocaine down in the small space. No one would find it there.

Avalon flopped face first down onto her bed. The burning hole in her stomach increased. Sighing, she pulled her arms up, resting them on the bed, burying her face in the blankets. Feverish shame filled tremors wrenched my gut and the orange ranger convulsed, shivering, squeezing her arms over her head. She let out a sound that was between a moan and a sigh, then the tears started to fall. Unable to turn her fears into words, Avalon started to cry.

A tiny tear rolled down her cheek at first, and then they came suddenly, unable to be stopped.

_I'm sorry._

Avalon's arms left her head, weighted by her secrets and lies. After a few moments of silence, Avalon felt something crawl into bed beside her and the orange ranger twisted around to see Bailey lying beside her. Her twitching eyebrows were the only indication of seeing Avalon cry. Bailey reached out and brushed her older sister's tears away.

"Goober," she murmured.

"Booger," Bailey replied.

Reaching an arm behind her head, Avalon grabbed a pillow and swiftly brought her arm back down, hitting Bailey in the face. Bailey shrieked and rolled out of her sister's way, grabbing another pillow and hitting her back. Avalon laughed, pushing her disheveled hair out of her face.

Bailey placed the pillow in her lap and rested her chin in her hands, looking up at me earnestly. "Why were you crying?"

"Don't worry," I replied dismissively. "You wouldn't understand."

Bailey made a face of indignation. "Try me."

"Forget it." Moments like that were what drove Avalon forward every day. What, for her, made the sun rise and fall. What she looked forward to, being able to spend time with her sister and forget about the other things that she was doing. There was a quiet knock on the door and Avalon sat up, quickly brushing away the rest of her tears. "Come in," she called, after a moment.

The door opened and Billy stuck his head inside before walking in all the way. "I thought I heard you come in, I just wasn't sure."

"Too busy basking in the adoring gaze of a certain yellow ranger?" Bailey teased, laughing along with Avalon as Billy walked over and sat down on the end of her bed, crossing his legs. Instead of replying, Billy shrugged although there was a coy smile on his face.

Avalon brought her legs up to her chest, wrapping her arms around her knees. She rested her chin on her knees and studied Billy for a moment. She didn't understand how it was him that she ended up living with. In some ways she had expected Kimberly to be the ideal choice, as her house was bigger. Avalon had quickly dismissed the idea when the though came up, it would have been too awkward. Especially if the pink ranger had found out how many times the orange ranger and the Vipers had cased her extravagant house before having broken in to steal from them. As soon as Billy had offered her house, everyone around her had jumped on the bandwagon and before she knew it all of their stuff had started to get moved in.

Not that she was complaining being able to be in a stable home was a good change for her; she even started to see bits of herself that had changed. Though it didn't seem that all of her mannerisms and habit were going to go away anytime soon. She still had to get over the natural want to lie about something or keep it to herself when there wasn't a need to.

"Hey." Avalon reached out and placed her hand on Billy's knee. "Thanks for covering for me, Smurf. I didn't think I'd be getting back this late." She brushed her hair behind her shoulder. "Let's just be glad there wasn't anything important going on, yeah?" She carefully hid her bruised hand from sight, making a show of moving her legs into the Indian style position.

Billy ducked his head, shaking his fringe from his face. "Well, you already said that you'd be there to bail me out if there was ever a need for you to use your lifeguard training."

Avalon gave him a cheeky smile. "I said I'd give you a kiss too, mate. What are you trying to say?" At Billy's blush Avalon threw her head back and laughed. "I'm kidding, mate." She nudged his arm this time. "Seriously, thank you. You're a legend. Seriously. Thanks. You don't know how much it means to me."

"You're welcome," Billy said and the two rangers smiled at each other.

"Well, now that you're back and now that Billy and Trini are done studying I can tell you what I came up with," Bailey interrupted. She leaned over the side of the bed and reached under it, sticking out her hand. Steggy walked out from under the bed with a t-shirt draped over her heat. Laughing, Bailey removed the article of clothing and brought the stegosaurus zord up onto the bed. Avalon picked her up in her hands and gently nuzzled the zord. "You know how I've said to you before that destroying Rita's and Zedd's swords would be what would turn her back to normal?"

"Yeah," Avalon prompted her with a nod.

Bailey pushed her glasses up her nose then cracked her knuckles. She chewed her lower lip for a moment. "Well, after running lots of scans and test I've come to the conclusion that Rita's and Zedd's magic is much stronger when used together than by themselves. So how is it that Rita's magic alone was able to hold onto Steggy this long?"

Billy exchanged a look with Avalon and shrugged at Bailey. "Rita's magic has always had diverse effects on things. Her magic seems to have gotten stronger over the time we've been fighting them but not to the point where it's lasted this long." He drummed his fingers on his shin. "Do you think it has anything to do with the Healiodore?"

Avalon rapped her fingers not he side of her head. "Hello? I've been co-piloting your zord almost since I got mine." Her eyebrows rose. "We didn't even know about the Healiodore until now."

"Right, but how do we know that Rita and Zedd didn't?" Billy pointed out.

Avalon rested her chin in her hand and nodded. She looked over at Bailey once more. "So after the preliminary tests that I've been running, when not working on my science fair project—"

"—you mean making goo goo eyes at Fred," Avalon interrupted.

Billy chuckled. Bailey ignored her sister and continued. "I've come to the conclusion about Steggy." She reached out a hand and running her fingertips over the spikes on the zord's back. "What if Rita's and Zedd's magic already wore off."

Avalon snorted. "If that were the case, why hasn't she returned to normal?"

Bailey looked her in the eye. "Because you don't want her to."

* * *

**A/N: **I needed at least one chapter that focused on Avalon fully, so I hope you all don't mind really getting into her head for a bit. I said the personal lives of the rangers would take a bigger precedence in this story, but Rita and Zedd are bigger in this one than the last, so I'm working on the balance. Don't worry; I have some happy chapters coming up soon, especially considering I've been focusing on Avalon's angsting and path to getting out of the Vipers. The counterbalance to all of it is coming soon, I promise; especially as he you see her warming up more/allowing herself to become more vulnerable as the story goes on.

Also, is anyone confused as to where SGG falls in with ATB and MoG? I've had two people ask/express some confusion with it and I wasn't sure how everyone else felt.

**~Avalon**


	8. Chapter 8: Family Ties

**Chapter 08**

_Family Ties_

* * *

"Ay yi yi yi yi, Zordon its worse than we thought," Alpha said, walking in tight circles around the Command Center. "My sensors indicate that there is something going on with our home planets." He made a whining sound. "I don't think I can take much more of this," he continued. "There's not much time left that we can help them."

Zordon lowered his gaze, slightly shaking his head. He could see how worked p the robot was becoming, more so than Zordon was himself. The robot had become more empathetic, compassionate, and…_real. _The former teams of rangers that had worked alongside Zordon through his years of stopping Rita hadn't had the same impact these human rangers did. He knew what Alpha was feeling, the two had become close friends during their time together. To the point that he was one of the few people—or things—that Zordon relied on when he was in a jam.

"I know, Alpha," Zordon agreed. "Though your sensors can indicate things more than I can or have been able to in recent years,"—He turned his gaze back towards his friend—"this is something that is affecting you dearly and me as well."

"I can just tell something's wrong on Edenoi," Alpha continued. He turned, placing his hands on an empty control panel, shaking his head. "I don't know what it is, but something is off, I can feel it. The balance of the planet is going wrong." With a wistful sigh, he walked back a few paces. "Everything that I remember of Edenoi, placed in my memory bank, it doesn't feel right anymore."

Zordon gave a slow, sad smile. "I understand what you're feeling entirely, Alpha. I have been feeling this way for a while and through Rita and Zedd now having the Azurite Healiodore, I've been feeling it more so now than ever before." His gaze moved around his tube, his prison for the last thousands of years. "It is not great, knowing that the fate of your home planet resides in those that are still native to them…and not being able to do anything to help them."

Alpha nodded, lowering his head. His memory band ignited, flashing his precious moments of living on Edenoi to him in a slide show. There were images of himself being constructed by King Lexian, being turned on for the first time, being able to experience everything there was about lithe startling feelings he encountered when he was powered on was overwhelming. He could see trees, sunlight, and the exotic animals native to his planet. They had been so scary at first, but King Lexian led the way, showing him everything that needed to be known about living, teaching him the many mysteries of the world.

Now all of that was starting to die. He could feel it deep in his joints and his sensors. Despite not having an actual heart, his figurative one was with everyone he knew back in the recesses of the universe and he was stuck on Earth, wondering what was going on.

"But that is why we are doing our best to keep the rangers' planet from befalling the same fate," Zordon reminded him. "No, we don't know what it is exactly that's happening back on Eltar or Edenoi, but you must have faith that they can hold on and defend themselves while we get the Healiodore back ourselves."

Alpha nodded, turning to a control panel and starting to move faders back and forth before pressing a few buttons. He couldn't help but want to get another glimpse into what was going on with his home planet, using the Command Center's own control panels and advanced technology—from the help of Billy and Bailey—he could get a better idea.

"As soon as the Healiodore is on our grasp we may be able to, finally, release me from this tube," Zordon continued. "Have the power to turn you into a true Edenoite, and rescue our planets from the clutches of evil that we know to be taking it over."

Alpha dropped his hands once more. "Do you really think it's possible?" It was the first time that he was expressing his doubt throughout their plan. Keeping it from the rangers didn't sit entirely well with him, though he understood there were many things that they would know in time, this was different. This was something that they were a pivotal part in and they were being kept in the dark.

"If you believe in the rangers as much as we have before…" Zordon trailed off for a moment. "We haven't had reason to doubt the rangers before; we should not doubt them now."

"Yes, Zordon, I completely understand."

Alpha glanced over at his side as the Ankylosaurus power morpher started to glow.

* * *

"Flight 2894, Sydney, Australia to Angel Grove, California has now arrived. Please take care when retrieving your bags from the overhead bins, have a great day, and thank you for flying Oceanic airlines."

Ellie smiled as leaned over to look out the window. Everything looked the same to her, yet so different at the same time. The angelic blue water was as relaxing as ever, giving her a sense of comfort amongst the anxiety that riddled her body. It was her first time in America let alone Angel Grove. Add in the anxiety of seeing her children again for the first time in years and she was ready to make a permanent camp in the bathroom. She had been out of her seat and up and down the aisles so often that the flight attendant asked if she needed some sort of medication to have an easy flight.

Embarrassed, Ellie forced herself to stay in her seat. Her mind wandered, wondering what her kids would have been like now. Bailey, she was sure, would have won some sort of prize in some sort of science competition. She had always been spouting out at the mouth about what her class had studied in their science classes. She excelled in math and had become so smart so quickly Ellie had wanted to move her up a few grade levels until she felt she was being challenge. William, on the other hand, had denied the idea as soon as he heard it, stubbornly stating that it was better for her development if she stayed with kids her age.

Ellie gently shook her head. She knew for sure, that was where Avalon got her stubborn streak from, her father. They were the only two she knew of that could hold a grudge for the longest time until the other person cracked. Her headstrong attitude could get her into trouble with authority like no one's business—the thought of how many times Ellie had been called to the principal's office for talking back was laughable. But on the other hand, Ellie had noted Avalon's stubbornness had given her a natural leadership quality as well as being unafraid to stand up for what she believed in.

_God knows she's going to put that mouth of hers in overdrive when I get there, _Ellie thought, gently shaking her head. It was the only reaction she was expecting, intense anger, frustration, and betrayal. She hoped they would at least sit down and listen to what she had to say. Especially when it came her knowing Avalon was a power ranger, Bailey was helping her out, and that they were in more trouble than they originally thought.

Ellie's hands clenched into fists, a wave of anger washing over her. She couldn't help it, when it came to William's experiments and constant work in the government, doing whatever it was he used as a cover for said experiments. Knowing how much he had lied to her about his life, not knowing that he had been married had kids before, it still made her sick.

"Excuse me, ma'am, you can leave the plane now."

Ellie looked up and smile warmly at the stewardess before gracefully unfolding herself from her seat. Reaching above her head, she took her purse and tote bag and slung them over her shoulders before gently making her way down the aisle and out of the plane. Reaching a hand up to shield her face from the filtering sunlight, she sauntered through the tunnel and into the Angel Grove airport.

"Good afternoon."

"Hello."

"Hope you enjoy your stay here, but keep an eye out for those monsters."

Ellie's smile widened at the cheerfulness everyone exuded as she passed them. No wonder Angel Grove was one of the highest ranked cities to live in. No wonder the people there were so happy and helpful towards each other. If it wasn't for the constant smog cloud that seemed to reign over the city, it would be the perfect place to live.

Ellie left the airport and turned to try and find a taxi. She blinked in stunned surprise when one suddenly appeared out of nowhere, screeching to a halt in front of her. Ellie climbed into the backseat, directing the driver to her hotel. Leaning her forehead against the window, she looked out at Angel Grove as it whizzed by.

Her eyes shot upwards towards a slight green flash in the sky.

_That's strange, _she thought, trying to figure out the source of the light. _I guess I'm going to have to get used to it._

* * *

Jason sucked in a deep breath, lowering himself to the floor and starting a series of push-ups. Once that was finished, he got back to his feet and went over to the mirror, flexing his arms and poking at his muscle definition. He frowned, turning to the side and lifting up his shirt, looking over his stomach muscles as well. He was fitter than most guys his age, even those that were older than him and lived their lives in health and fitness. His constant work with martial arts had helped and yet…he still wasn't satisfied.

Walking over to his desk he picked up a bottle and unscrewed the cap. Pinching his fingers together he lifted the dropper out of the bottle and over a water bottle that sat on the edge of his desk. He released a few drops into the water, replaced the dropper, and then shook up the water bottle before taking a long gulp. The bitter taste reached the back of his throat and he felt his face screw up at the taste, he was getting used to it, but it still sucked.

At a knock on his door, Jason quickly grabbed the bottle and threw it into a desk drawer, whirling around as his father entered the room. "Hey Dad," he greeted him. "What's up?" When Caine Scott reached out his hand, Jason took it and the two came together in a man hug, slapping each other on the back. Caine shot him a meaningful look out of the corner of his eye. "Please don't tell me that Bulk and Skull actually became a part of the junior police officer program." He sat down on the end of his bed, picking up a dumbbell off the floor and curling it towards himself.

Caine gave a half smile. "What makes you think I'd know about that?"

"I thought police officers and lawyers were like this." Jason wrapped his index and middle fingers around each other. "It seems like it, anyway. You guys like to gossip about whatever is going on in all of Angel Grove. You seem to know about everything that goes on in the city."

"It's my job to know," Caine replied, his half smile turning into a smirk. He ran his hands over his face then crossed his arms over his chest. "But that's not what I wanted to talk to you about. I wanted to talk to you about _you_." Jason raised an eyebrow. He slowed his movements, but didn't stop completely. "How are you feeling? Being in the hospital and all?"

"Fine," Jason said shortly. His eyes narrowed. "Why?"

"I just think that there may be something wrong," Caine continued. There was a slight lift to his tone but the forceful tone hiding underneath that lightheartedness was unmistakable. Jason had heard it enough over the years that he was able to detect it quickly, usually whenever he would receive a bad grade on a test or quiz or paper. Jason continued to watch his father, as Caine watched his son. Finally, Caine sucked in a sharp breath. "So I was going through my workout supplies, looking to see where I am with my protein powders and shakes and everything and I noticed that I seem to be missing a bottle of Duradeca." His eyes narrowed. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about that would you?"

Jason dropped his dumbbell to the ground before sitting up straight, rubbing his hands on the legs of his pants, palms suddenly flooding with sweat. "No. Why would I?"

Caine bobbed his head to the side. "Just asking a question."

"I already gave you my answer," Jason insisted, borderline snapping at his father.

A vein twitched in Caine's neck. He pressed his lips together for a moment before speaking once more. "You do know the side effects of things like that right? Apart from your hair falling out and the terrible mood swings, there's always the chance of heart attack because of cholesterol problems, kidneys failing, liver failure, and you know, your skin just completely breaks out and—"

"Dad!" Jason stood up, glaring at his father. "I already answered your _damn _question! I'm not taking any of your steroids, if anything you may have misplaced it." He lowered his voice, trying to sound calm this time. "But I'll keep an eye out if I do." He reached over and picked up his backpack from the ground. "I have a project that I need to work on, a lot of homework too, do you mind if I go and get it done before dinner?"

Caine slowly nodded. "Go ahead." Jason moved to step around him and Caine grabbed onto the red ranger's arm. "Listen, Jase, I know you're under a lot of stress at school and all of your extracurricular activities, and hanging out with your friends and everything, but if there ever is anything wrong, you know you can talk to me." He gently tightened his grip, his eyes searching Jason's. "Or your mother, you know that we just want to see you enjoying as much as you can out of life."

Jason nodded. "Yeah, Dad, I know." He ran a hand through his hair. "There's nothing that's bothering me. Really. I'm just getting caught up with everything. I mean, football season is starting up, I'm still working on martial arts, I'm still teaching all of my lessons and I still have to find time to do my homework and hang out with my friends." He shrugged. "Yeah, I may be a bit stressed but I wouldn't be dumb enough to want to do something like that and jeopardize everything."

Caine raised an eyebrow.

Jason knew what he was thinking and decided to change the subject, not wanting to prove his father right.

"I need to get my homework done, Dad," Jason said, now sounding more like himself. He even had a bright smile on his face. "But afterwards I'll be sure to sit and listen to all of the new cases you're taking on and what bothers you about each and every one of them."

Caine rolled his eyes. "You're going to pay for that one."

"Hey." Jason shrugged. "Mom's the one that acts like they're all interesting, I have to play devil's advocate." Sticking out his tongue at his father, Jason stepped around him and quickly bounded down the stairs and out the front door. He ducked around the side of the house and slid into the shadows. Bringing his hands up, he focused his attention on his communicator, teleporting to the Command Center.

Once he landed, Jason tossed his bag to the ground and leaned against a control panel, rubbing his hands over his face. His father's words bounced around in his head, each one vying for attention as his own calming words tried to drown them out.

"Jason?" The red ranger turned as Zordon appeared inside his power tube. "Is there anything wrong?"

Quickly shaking his head, Jason crossed his arms and pushed himself away from the control panel. There wasn't anything in particular that was wrong. Having been put into the hospital and then getting beaten so easily by Goldar, all because of his managing to get a power gem none of them had heard of before.

"No," he finally replied. "I'd just like to get some homework done here if that's alright with you guys." In the silent seconds that passed, Jason felt his irritation start to rise, quicker than ever before. Why was everyone asking so much of him lately? All he was trying to do was to get his homework done so that there was a tiny part of his stress taken away from him. Why was he being treated like he was committing some sort of crime?

_Or maybe you're just taking things too seriously, _he thought. He immediately pushed the thought away. He wasn't the problem. Everyone else was.

"Jason," Zordon started. "My sensors indicate that there is something that is causing you to act in a way that isn't up to your usual standards."

Alpha shuffled in a circle, turning to face the red ranger. "Did you get entrapped by a spell from Rita and Zedd?" He questioned. Jason rolled his eyes before pinching the bridge of his nose and turning away from the two mentors that had been working with him since he agreed to lead the team. If he had done everything they wanted, no questions asked, why were they prying into his business this time? "If that is the case, Jason, then we can help."

"Can I stay here and get some work done? Yes or no?" Jason snapped, his voice echoing through the Command Center. "God It's not a hard question." He dropped his hand from his nose. "I just need some peace and quiet to get some homework done and this is the perfect place. But if you don't want me her—"

"Its fine, Jason," Alpha said, as kind as ever. "Stay here as long as you need to get your 'homework' done." Alpha's use of air quotes around the word made Jason laugh, though he felt a twinge of guilt deep in his gut. He knew the two were just worried about him and he had blown it out of proportion.

Jason reached up a hand and placed it on Alpha's shoulder. "Thanks Alpha," he said in a low murmur.

* * *

**A/N: **After all of the graduation festivities, I finally managed to get an update done. So that being said, I'm sorry it's shorter than usual and it may have been a bit lackluster, but Ellie closer to seeing her kids and the rangers are trying to deal with being

I'm surprised no one's guessed, it before this chapter. Jason is on steroids. I thought it made sense for his character, especially with the fact that he is the most muscular out of everyone. I like to play off of his insecurities of not being a leader anymore and that's where the idea came from. It's going to be brought up more as the story goes on, I wanted to try and tease it a few times before saying what it actually was.

The plot with Alpha and Zordon was actually hinted to every now and then back in _All The Blame _so being able to work on it now is exciting for me, haha. The next chapter will be longer and it will have a bunch of different things in it. Thanks for all of the support with my stories and thanks for bearing with me as I took a short break to celebrate everything.

**~Avalon**


	9. Chapter 9: The Story So Far

**Chapter 09**

_The Story So Far_

* * *

Rita laughed as she watched Goldar exhibit his new powers once more. She had laughed hysterically, an evil cackle that resonated throughout the Lunar Palace when she watched him throw the rangers around like rag dolls as soon as he had the chance. Now that she had sent him out to face them once more, the rangers didn't stand a chance. Of course she could have used the rest of her horoscope monsters, but what was the point when Goldar was able to defeat them with just a swipe of his sword? A shockwave would come out and destroy anything in its path, immediately disintegrating it. So far the power brats had managed to keep from being completely destroyed, which always seemed within her grasp. But right before she could taste that victory they were teleported away or Golda would lose control of the powers and have to be brought back.

Someday soon they would get the rangers.

Not that she didn't have a backup plan up her sleeve. It was Zedd's idea, really. He had been the one that thought of attacking Edenoi and Eltar, to settle the score against the mentor the rangers went to day after day. He was the one that had been their biggest rival in the war that had decimated planets and galaxies in its entirety. Why not find a way to get back at them by hitting their weak spot?

Kill two birds with one stone, keep the rangers exhausted and running around; soon they wouldn't be able to keep themselves awake let alone to keep three different worlds safe. All they had to do was continue to put the pressure on and wait for the right moment to reveal their plan in its entirety.

"I don't know why I'm asking because I enjoy the silence, but what are you thinking, my dear?" Zedd came up behind her, tapping his fingers against the metal of his staff. Rita slowly turned to him, not wanting to take her eyes off the Earth as it loomed down below them. He glanced at her. "I don't believe I've seen you so happy. Not even with our wedding."

Rita rolled her eyes. Of course the wedding had started off with a plan of hers, giving him a potion to have him fall in love with her. Goldar had been against the love between them from the very beginning and tries to break them apart, but Zedd had overcome the potion and really did fall in love with her. And as much as she did love her husband, she found many things about him irritating, especially his monster snoring. Nevertheless as long as they were able to continue to drive the rangers to the ground she could over look it.

"I'm wondering how much longer it'll take to finally take over Earth, defeat those power brats, and take over the rest of the universe," Rita replied. She waved her scepter around. "Think about it Zeddy. We could have the humans work for us, vacation on Mars, take trips to the Milky Way…all between the takeover of the other galaxies." She grinned, excitement rising at the prospect. "Soon we'll take over the entire universe! And no one can stop us!" She punctuated her sentence by stabbing her wand into the air. The red bulb on top started to glow, sending out sparks of red lightning.

"Of course my dear," Zedd agreed in a low grumble. He turned back towards the Earth. "With the power we have from Goldar, it won't be much longer until everything the rangers are working for falls at their feet." He spun his staff around in his hands, turning back to her. "But why don't we speed up the process a little?"

Rita scurried to his side. "What do you mean?" She snapped.

"I mean, you loud mouth, that we've seen before, the quickest way to break a ranger down is by attacking what they love the most."

"Really? I've never noticed that."

Rita's sarcasm was not lost on Zedd. He slowly turned his head and glared at her, his body started to pulse with a red light. Rita wasn't stupid. As much as she liked to antagonize her husband, to bicker with him as much as she could, she knew the amount of power he held. He had managed to take an entire zord and threaten any planet that got in his way. The ruthlessness that Zedd exhibited was far greater than that of Rita's and she knew if she went too far over the line he could get rid of her easier than it would be to crush a worm under his foot. Despite their love for each other, she knew he wouldn't hesitate to put her into another space dumpster and blow it up with her inside.

"As I was saying, the way to defeating the rangers once and for all is to take away what they love the most," Zedd continued. "And we've seen that firsthand. They would do anything for their parents over the rest of those Angel Grove morons." His grip tightened on his staff, a hint of malice lacing the edge of his voice. "Even give up their power coins. How far do you really think they would go if we pushed hard enough?"

Rita slowly smiled then tilted her head back and laughing loudly. Zedd let out a sigh that sounded like a growl, before turning his head away, waiting for her to finish. As Rita continued with her malicious laughter, Zedd ran through a few different plans through his head. Which would be the best way to go about this? Continue to run the rangers into the ground and then strike? Use all of the combined powers together at once to disintegrate them as well as the planet? Revive Serpentera and have it destroy the city and keep their parents captive once more?

The possibilities were endless.

"Are you done?" Zedd finally asked.

Rita broke off her laughter and swung her wand around, hitting Zedd in the knee. He started to glow red once more, watching as Rita turned on her heel and walked further into the Lunar Palace. Zedd waited a few moments, knowing that Goldar was around somewhere. He had always been a bit of a sniffling fool, but he was loyal to Zedd and the loyalty was what was keeping him alive at that point, otherwise he would have been cast out with the others when he got the chance.

"My liege." Goldar announced his presence to Zedd, walking over to him. "Allow me to be the one that breaks the rangers. I'm still getting used to my new powers and I could use the target practice." His red eyes glowed with intent. "Being able to control it while using it on the rangers…soon we'll be unstoppable."

"I'm not going to risk you messing up another plan because we have to bring you back to this palace," Zedd turned Goldar down. "For now we'll continue to use you as a last minute thing. Besides…continuing to torture the rangers with their defeat humors me."

* * *

Avalon, Trini, and Kimberly were sent flying onto the ground as Goldar's sword caught them across their fronts. Jason charged overhead, his power sword clashing with Goldar's sword, releasing a blue blast of energy that sent him flying as well. Zack, Tommy, and Billy tried to get off the ground, struggling to their knees as Goldar let out a victorious laugh, raising his sword overhead.

Like the battles before, he suddenly disappeared, being brought back to the Lunar Palace. Tommy slammed a fist against the ground, watching him disappear. They had been defeated again. "Is everyone alright?" He called out. He let out a sigh of relief, getting weak responses, but at least everyone seemed to be OK. "Let's get back."

The power rangers teleported to the Command Center and took off their helmets. All seven of them held expressions of disappointment on their faces which were, otherwise, smeared with soot and dust. Bailey walked over to each ranger, taking their helmets from them and placing them on a metal cart. Some of them had cracks in the protective shields for their eyes, Zack's was completely cracked open, and Trini's looked like a spider web had spun its web all over the front of hers. Bailey exchanged a glance with Alpha and shook her head as she started to push the cart out of the room.

If their helmets had gotten that bad from the fight with Goldar, who knew how much longer they would be able to last. Their suits had patches where the material had burned away, revealing some of their skin. They all looked fed up.

"What are we going to do, Zordon?" Trini asked their mentor. "Goldar just seems to be getting stronger and stronger each time we face him." She shook her head, long ponytail shaking behind her as she did so. "We can't win."

"Don't give up rangers," Alpha chided.

"Alpha is right rangers," Zordon said to the group of teenagers. "You have faced countless battles like this, some stronger than others, and you've all come out stronger than you thought."

Avalon snorted, tilting her head to the side. "That was before we nearly get disintegrated into dust each time an energy blast is sent out way." Lifting her head into its original position she waved a hand. "You know, apart from the fact that my zord is still pocket sized."

"Guys, Alpha and Zordon are right," Tommy broke in. He leaned against a control panel as the other rangers turned their attention to him. He licked his lips, taking a moment to think. "We've faced so many different things and monsters before and we always manage to beat them and we always do it as a team. Right now…this is just a setback, once we find out what the Azurite Healiodore can do as a whole, and then we can find a way to defeat Goldar."

"Every source of power has its weakness," Billy agreed. He gave a helpless shrug. "I just wish I knew how to figure out the weakness of this one." He brought a gloved hand up to his chin and started to rub it. "I mean, this is a gem that's origins date back to being from another planet, if I could get a sample of it, and then I could figure out the components and go from there."

Kimberly gently shook her head. "Don't beat yourself up over it, Billy; we're all trying our best." She gave him a kind smile, placing her hand on his shoulder. Billy smiled back at her, but the doubt remained in his eyes. "The only thing we can do now is get some rest and try again when Rita and Zedd send down their next monster."

"Kim's right," Jason concurred. "We can't focus on the things we haven't been able to do. We just have to keep trying."

After having been quiet throughout the whole exchange, Zack finally made his presence known. He kicked the side of a control panel, causing Alpha to go into a bit of distress, having been startled. Bailey came to a sudden stop, dropping Jason's helmet to the ground. He shot her nasty glare, which she noticed and quickly turned away, picking up the helmet and replacing it on the rack. Kimberly and Trini exchanged concerned glances, he had never been so angry before, especially not at Bailey.

"If we knew who that new morpher was supposed to go to, we wouldn't have this problem," Zack snapped. He waved an arm. "Even if that person was evil or didn't want to join us, the extra ranger could at least do _something_."

"Zack," Alpha said, his voice conveying worry.

"I'm sorry, but I'm tired of not knowing," Zack apologized. He licked his lips. "I'm tired of not knowing when it'll be the last time we'll see everything around here. Goldar is really strong; we've seen him blow up a tree to the point where it was like it didn't exist. And Rita's and Zedd's monsters are getting stronger and stronger and we're doing everything we can just to stay alive." He threw his hands into the air. "What happens when we finally lose?"

"The earth goes to shit, Rita and Zedd take over the universe, Angel Grove has the largest funeral they've ever had at one time, and the power rangers will be over," Avalon said simply. She raised and lowered her right shoulder in a shrug. "I'm not sure how that's not clear, mate." Her words were met with silence. She had just said everything the other rangers were too afraid to even think about. It was the one thing that was in the back of their minds. What would happen if Rita, Zedd, and Goldar really _did _manage to destroy them and take over the world? As Avalon said, everything would go to shit, the rangers would be no more, and the worst part of it would have been that they had failed.

Zack swallowed tickly. "Yeah…that…"

Alpha turned from the rangers and walked over to the Power Cube that was sitting underneath a glass case. He opened the case and carefully picked up the cube. It continued to glow a red and a purplish color. Those powers were going o go to Jason and Zack, so far, there had been certain moments that had showed they were ready to take over the power. Avalon had gotten hers almost immediately, Billy had gotten his while fighting Arieselle, and Trini got hers while fighting Goldar and Piscessen, Kimberly received hers while fighting Goldar. Maybe that was the key, they weren't able to have the amount of power and drive needed unless they really were fighting for their lives. Now that Goldar had the Azurite Healiodore, what was keeping them from receiving the powers now?

"This Power Coin appeared at the same time the Power Cube had come into existence," Alpha continued. "And we all know it stemmed from the powers that Avalon has along with her enhanced strength and speed."

"It comes in handy with chores and working out," Avalon admitted. "But it doesn't seem to be making a difference when it comes to our fighting."

"That's because some of your powers are synthetic not what you were destined to," Zordon explained. Billy chewed his lower lip, exchanging a glance with Trini. She twisted her mouth to the side and looked away from him, hoping her expression didn't give away what she was feeling. "You were pre-determined to have the powers of the Stegosaurus; however the others that have been bestowed upon you have not been completed, so that you are stronger in some areas but weaker in others. It's also the way we've been able to get the added abilities for the other rangers when the time came."

"What does it mean for the Ankylosaurus ranger then?" Kimberly asked, tapping her cheek. Her eyebrows were lowered in confusion. "Because it seems like we would be the only ones to get the powers from the Cube."

"We won't know until the ranger makes themselves known," Alpha replied. He replaced the Power Cube in its glass case and picked up the power morpher. It glowed for a moment as he turned to show it to the rangers. Bailey, who had put away the helmets, walked back over to the rangers, looking over the power morpher.

"As Alpha and Zordon acknowledged previously, this power morpher has the capability to choose who the master of the power is," Bailey reminded her. "Considering the background of the Ankylosaurus in general, compared to the rest of the dinosaurs and animals that you all encompass, we don't know the strength this power has or whether or not it will mesh with the powers that you already have."

"But we have to try," Jason insisted. "Maybe there's a way for us to figure out who the recipient will be before its chosen."

Zordon gave him a calming smile. "Right now, what you need to do is get some rest. You won't be at the top of your game if you don't allow yourself to take some time to relax and worry about yourselves."

The rangers nodded.

Bailey turned back to the power morpher as it glowed once more.

She hoped they would find the ranger soon, but by her suspicion, it was someone they already knew.

* * *

"Do you think if we told our teachers that we're the power rangers they'd stop giving us so much homework?" Zack asked the next morning. He stretched out his legs on the front steps of Angel Grove High, resting his arms on the step behind him. Tilting his head back, he looked up at the blue ranger, who was sitting in the same position he was, though Trini was sitting between his legs, resting her arms on his legs, hands draped over his knees. "I bet you already had the homework for the week done as soon as last week ended."

Billy gave a smug smile, crossing his arms. "No one like's a sore loser, Zack."

Tommy, Kimberly, Jason, and Trini laughed as Zack reached out and shook Billy's shoulder. Billy winced as Zack dug his fingers into one of the bruises he sustained from the fight the day before. Trini noticed the movement and gently rubbed Billy's thigh, her shoulders slumped as she sighed a little.

"I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to keep my eyes open today," Kimberly complained, resting her head on Tommy's shoulder. "As soon as I got home yesterday, you guys, I was out like a light when my head hit the pillow." She shook her head, stifling a yawn. "I don't think I'm going to get through my classes without falling asleep."

"Really?" Jason looked around at the rangers. "I don't feel tired at all."

"As soon as he got home yesterday he did a workout," Zack pointed out.

"And he was sparring in the front yard this morning," Tommy added.

"Oh!" Kimberly reached behind her and pinched Jason's bicep. "No wonder your muscles look extra big today." Tommy made a noise of displeasure and Kimberly gently patted him on the arm before leaning in and giving him a kiss on the cheek.

Jason shrugged and started to gently run his fingers over his arm muscles. His knees started to rev up and down. His eyes moved over to his backpack where the mesh pocket bulged out where the small bottle of steroids sat. He swallowed thickly and turned away. He didn't want to get caught up in the guilt again. His father's stern gaze was still burned in his memory, already starting to shame him more than he thought it would. A slamming car door caught his attention and he an t

"Don't ask," Avalon said in a warning tone as she sat down, dropping her backpack at her feet. She stuck a hair tie in her mouth, hold it with her teeth, using both hands to pull her long hair back into a ponytail then tied it with the hair tie hanging from her mouth. "There was something I had to do and I'm sure you lot don't want to know the details." She let out a heavy sigh, resting her hand on her cheek. "Is anyone else as tired as I am?"

"Yeah," came the unanimous reply.

Avalon smiled a little. It had been a rough night, after having been beaten so badly. She, Billy, and Bailey had gone back to the Cranston house, had dinner, and then immediately went to sleep. Avalon had been woken up by whimpers and looked over to see Bailey tossing and turning, holding onto her blankets so tightly it looked like she was about to rip them in half. Once Avalon had managed to wake her sister up, she let her sister sleep in her bed so she would stay comforted. Bailey had fallen back asleep pretty quickly, though Avalon had found herself up for a while longer, her mind racing a mile a minute. Then early that morning she had been told by Chase that she needed to get to the warehouse and when she arrived she found that it was time for them to do another hit for money.

They had gone to an antique shop that was just opening it up, held the elderly man and woman at gunpoint, robbed the store, took more of the valuable items to the pawn shop for even more money, then went back to the warehouse to make sure everything was split evenly. Avalon had been sluggish throughout the whole plan, not saying and word and deciding to stay as a lookout rather than participating in it directly. Maybe she was really starting to feel guilty about it. The year before she would have charged inside and barked orders as soon as she was told what her part of the plan was. Now she wanted nothing but to get away from it and the quicker she could do that…what?

Sure, her life would get better but everyone would still be intimidated by her outward appearance, they would still know her involvement in The Vipers, it had been in the papers when she admitted to some of the recent crimes they had committed. She still had to do the community service and check in with a parole officer every day. Was that really better than doing whatever she wanted when she wanted and juggling that with being a power ranger.

_I fucking hope so, _Avalon thought. She brought her hands up and used the heels of her palms to rub her eyes, yawning loudly. "I think I'm going to die."

"Well your pep-talk yesterday was really rousing," Jason commented, smirking at her.

"So are your pecs, Rudolph" Avalon shot back, looking at him out of the corner of her eye. "I think I see some man boobs coming on, mate." She flashed the red ranger a sweet smile—which he returned with a roll of his eyes—as the rangers laughed. The bell rang and they all stood up, gathering their backpacks and bags. They shuffled inside along with the other Angel Grove High students. Stopping at their lockers, the grabbed their books for their first class and filed into the room just as Ms. Appleby was about to close the door.

"My you kids look like you haven't slept in a while," She said with a light laugh, her eyes moving over the colorful superheroes as they sat in their seats. "I hope everything is OK."

"Everything's fine, Ms. Appleby," Trini said reassuringly. She sat in her seat, pulling out a notebook and a pen. "We've just been working really hard with our studies and clubs and everything." Ms. Appleby looked at the seven for a long moment before turning away from them to write on the chalkboard.

Avalon stretched out her legs underneath the desk in front of her, resting her chin in her hand as she watched Ms. Appleby. There was something about the way she had looked at them all when they had entered the room that seemed a bit…suspicious. It probably wasn't the best word used to describe it. But there was definitely something that she knew that the rangers didn't. There was a tiny glint in her eyes, maybe of amusement. Avalon couldn't quite put her finger on it and it was that that made her feel uneasy. Not knowing, not being able to control something was one of her biggest fears. In away, she was sure; it was how she had agreed to join the Vipers so readily. She was terrified of what would happen to her and Bailey if they didn't find a place to live or things to eat. Not knowing what would happen the next day and worrying about her sister's well-being had been what drove her to her own personal hell and was what kept her there for so long.

Dropping her hand, Avalon opened her notebook and tried her hardest to pay attention as Ms. Appleby taught the lesson for that day. After the first twenty minutes, Avalon's eyes started to wander around the room. With the exception of Billy, the other rangers seemed to be having the same problem. Kimberly was trying in vain to keep her eyes open, Zack was doodling in his notebook, Trini was drumming her fingers on the desk, Jason was looking over some sort of chart—which Avalon guessed to be a workout schedule, and Tommy was reading the book assigned for English class under his desk. Billy sat straight up in his seat, dutifully taking notes and raising his hand to answer whatever question was asked.

Turning her head in the opposite direction, Avalon glanced at the empty desks that sat in the back of the classroom where Bulk and Skull used to sit. _Too bad Bulk and Skull got expelled, watching them make fools of themselves was a highlight during class, _She thought. _And would keep Ms. Appleby from noticing I didn't do my homework. _Avalon dropped her head, covering her head with her free hand, moving to an empty page in her notebook and trying to do the short essay assignments from the night before.

She had become so engrossed in them that she hadn't heard the class go quiet until Ms. Appleby's footsteps reached her eyes. Looking up, Avalon noticed the middle-aged teacher walking over to the door to the classroom. She pulled it open far enough to look out, but not for the students to see who was interrupting the class.

"Yes, may I help you?"

A seat in front of her and to the left, Avalon could see Jason's shoulders tense. Zack sat up straight in his seat. She knew the two of them were thinking of the time Chase had come to the school looking for her, and then attacked her in the hallways. It was what she thought about every time she heard footsteps down an empty corridor. Either that or Rita and Zedd saw how successful sending their putties down during school had been during that exact same time. No matter which way she saw it, butterflies erupted in Avalon's stomach whenever someone was at the door and she couldn't see them.

"Yes, I'm looking for my daughter. She's supposed to be in this class."

Avalon immediately recognized the velvety, accented voice and before she could stop herself, an audible gasp escaped her lips. Her friends turned her way and having taken one look at her face, they knew she knew who was at the door. Still, Avalon stayed rooted to the spot as Ms. Appleby opened the door further and invited Ellie Mitchell into the classroom.

"Mum?" Avalon finally managed to find her voice. For the first time in her life she didn't sound confident. Her fingers curled into her palms, her knees started to shake, and she was sure she would pass out at any second. "Mum?"

"Hey sweetie," Ellie Mitchell returned with a bright smile.

"Avalon, it seems that your mother would like to have a word with you," Ms. Appleby said to the orange ranger with a bright smile. "Feel free to take a few minutes."

"Thanks." Avalon slowly rose from her seat and gathered her books and backpack. She followed her mother out of the classroom, gently closing the door behind them. She turned to her mother, who stood in front of her, smiling warmly. Ellie's eyes turned misty as the seconds passed, her eyes trying to drink in every part of her eldest daughter before she opened her arms and hugged her.

Avalon surprised herself by reaching her arms up and wrapping them around her mother, hugging her tightly. She smelled like roses, exactly as Avalon remembered. Her hug was as tender and calming just as any mother's was and Avalon found her eyes welling up the longer she held onto her mother. Ellie pulled back and cupped Avalon's face in her hands, smiling warmly at her. She used her thumb to push away a tear that escaped Avalon's eyes, rolling down her cheek.

"I don't know why I'm crying," Avalon murmured, embarrassed. She hadn't known how she would react when she finally saw her mother again and now…Avalon took a step back. She was angry at her. She had left them all for drugs and wanting to have her own life. Well, she could just keep that life she wanted. Avalon's eyes hardened and she took a step back away from Ellie. "What are you doing here?" Her voice come out as a hiss.

Ellie raised an eyebrow. "I see your father has been telling you a lot of things," she said, her melodic voice taking on a sarcastic tone. Avalon heel turned and headed towards her locker. Ellie followed behind her, her high heels clacking as she went. "I want you to know what he's said isn't true."

"So you didn't abandon us?" Avalon snapped. "Sorry, I thought not being around for three years meant that."

"No. Avalon, there's a lot that you don't understand."

"That's an understatement."

"If you'd give me a chance to explain, then you'd see that I'm not as bad a person as you think I am," Ellie continued, matching her stride. Avalon stopped at her locket and opened the door. She pretended to look for her books for her next class, but her mind was so confused she just stood there, staring at the notebooks, folders and textbooks resting on the bench. She stared at the back of the metal locker, trying to figure out what to say. Ellie moved up next to Avalon, opened the door further. "Avalon?"

"Fuck off, Mum," Avalon finally found something to say. "You don't deserve it." She reached out a hand to close her locker door, but stopped when Ellie firmly grabbed onto her wrist. She turned towards her mother, glaring up at her, surprised to find Ellie glaring back. _That's where I got it from, _Avalon thought. She resembled her mother more than her father.

"Whether you like it or not, Avalon, I'm still your mother and I will not allow you to speak to me that way," Ellie said firmly. "Now, if you're done throwing a temper tantrum and hang on a tick before your next class, there are a lot of things we need to talk about." She lowered her hand, her eyes following the movement. Avalon quickly pulled her hand back, but it was too late. "What's that?"

"A tattoo," Avalon replied coolly, silently daring her mother to say something about it.

Ellie nodded. She hitched her purse up over her shoulder and took a step back, giving Avalon room to close her locker door. Letting out a sigh that seemed to come from the tips of her toes, the orange ranger closed her locker door and turned to her mother, nodding. Ellie gave a grateful smile and walked out of the front of Angel Grove high, carefully sitting down on the front steps as the rangers had done before. Avalon sat down next to her, feet in front of her, hands dropped down and dangling between her legs.

"Avalon, what you and Abigail need to know—"

"She goes by Bailey," Avalon interrupted.

Ellie smiled. "She always had insisted on that," she said. Ellie pushed her blonde hair away from her dark eyes her smile fading. "I know it's been a long time but I need you to know that I haven't stopped thinking about you and your sister since…what happened between me and your father."

"You mean before I was shipped out here?" Avalon spat.

Ellie nodded grimly. "What you need to know, sweetie, is that we weren't as happy as you and Bailey thought we were." Avalon's eyes slowly narrowed. "Yes, there was a time when we were in love, but I wasn't in love with the man your father was. I was in love with his image. You see, I thought he was a single man that was working with the government. Turns out, while he didn't lie, he wasn't exactly upfront with what he really was." She gently shook her head. "The boofhead," she added. Avalon continued to stare at her. Ellie took a deep breath and continued. "You see, your father…he was doing experiments while working with the government, making different sources of energy and working alongside those that are experts in machinery. Unbeknownst to me, he was studying different extraterrestrial attacks that the Earth had seen before and was trying to find a way to prevent them. It was with that studying he had heard about these beings called Power Rangers."

Avalon could feel her face blanch. She did her best not to look her mother directly in the eye or down at her power morpher. Discreetly, she moved her hand up to cover her communicator.

"And with that knowledge, knowing there had never been a set of rangers that were on earth and set out trying to make powers for humans to take over to become rangers as well, so that in case the earth was attacked again, they could defend it." Ellie sighed. "Well, one day he was testing it out in the garage and you walked inside and were hit by the beam that held the power. When your father told me I was furious, I demanded that he would keep that work away from you and Bailey and then this happened. He and I watched you for days, to see if there was anything different about you and when nothing happened, he became irate; disappointed that I hadn't worked, and effectively shut himself off of the world to keep trying. I was tired of being ignored and I didn't want that in my home, it as the final straw to the relationship that we had and I gave him the ultimatum that we if he didn't stop, I was going to leave him and take you and Bailey with me."

Avalon blinked, all of the angry tension leaving her. "What?"

"As soon as I told him that, he freaked out and we took it to court to see who would have custody. You see, your father and I were never married when we had you and Bailey. We were going to that point before…everything happened. So when it came up in court they saw a woman that had no job as she was a stay at home mom and a man that worked for the government who had the money to give you two everything you wanted. I fought hard, but I lost custody. I couldn't see you at all. So, I started to work hard, I got a job and did everything I could be sure I could be a good mother to you two. When I came back I was told that…you were gone. William had sent you to live with his sister and that was that."

Ellie took Avalon's hand in hers. "I still plan on becoming your mother again; it just took me this long to find you. Your father didn't want to tell me at first—"

"He knows where I am?" Avalon's eyebrows twitched. "That we've been living here…what we've been through?"

Ellie nodded. Her eyes moved to Avalon's tattoo and she placed her hand in her daughter's. "I know about the trouble you've been in, where you've been living, how things are going for you now. And I want things to get better for you."

"Wait. Just. Wait." Avalon brought her hands up to her head and took in a few deep breaths. She squeezed her eyes shut. What just happened? Everything that she had known had been a lie. Her parents…their relationship…her mother being on drugs…what was even real anymore? "You weren't on drugs?"

"No."

"You and Dad weren't married?"

"No."

"He knew where we were the whole time and he didn't want to try and get us?" Avalon lifted her head, teeth clenched tightly together. Her face was screwed up in a glare. "I don't fucking believe this!" She stood up, stomping her feet on the step. She stomped so hard that it cracked under her foot. Ellie glanced at the crack but remained silent.

"Is everything OK?" Kimberly's sweet voice came from behind them and Avalon turned to find her friends slowly making their way out of the front of the school, coming down the steps behind them.

Ellie stood up and turned to the rangers, holding her hand out towards Tommy. "I'm Eleanor Mitchell."

"I'm Tommy." He shook her hand firmly, giving her a smile. "And this Kimberly, Zack, Trini, Billy, and Jason." Each one smiled and waved as their names were called. Tommy hesitated before motioning over to Avalon. "We're Avalon's and Bailey's friends. It's nice to meet you Mrs. Mitchell."

"Ellie is fine," she corrected him, holding up her hands. She turned back to Avalon. "I was just…explaining some things to Avalon and understandably she didn't take it well." She then turned back to Billy. "I understand that my daughters have been living with you for a while now."

"That's right," Billy agreed.

"Thank you, to you and your parents for taking my girls in," Ellie said sincerely. "I know things haven't been easy for them but the hospitality and everything that you've shown them is all they or I could have asked for."

Billy nodded.

"So you know about everything?" Zack pressed. His eyes shifted to Avalon, who brought a hand up to scratched her forehead, using it as a cover for the scowl that appeared on her face.

"Yeah," Avalon said. "She knows about The Vipers and everything. She knows what Bailey and I have been through." She brushed a loose strand of hair out of her face, and then twisted her mouth to the side. "But, Mum, if you and Dad weren't married…what was wrong with your relationship that made things break up so badly?"

Ellie gave Avalon a sad smile. She turned away for a moment, covering her mouth with a hand and cleared her throat before looking directly at her daughter. Avalon raised her eyebrows, waiting for a response. "Ava… your father and I weren't married…but he had been before." Avalon's eyebrows slammed together. "In fact, I didn't know he had been. I thought he was single. I had been…sleeping with him while he was still married and had you. Not long after you were born, your father's wife died."

Avalon's eyebrows wrinkled her forehead now, giving her a headache.

"He has a son and a daughter from that wife. You have a brother and a sister. Their names are Ryan and Dana. Ryan is a little older than you and Dana is around your age." Ellie shook her head. "I didn't know until after Bailey was born. Then it all made sense. His constant trips, times where he would suddenly get off the phone. He was with her."

"That's not true," Avalon murmured. "You're lying!"

"I'm not," Ellie said firmly. "She was sick with cancer, he knew she didn't have much longer to live and he was depressed, knowing she wasn't going to be around and with his workload and the hospital visits and that's around the time I met him…" She trailed off. "I thought you needed to know," Ellie murmured.

Trini looked at Billy and spoke before the blue ranger could stop her. "Avalon it's true." All eyes turned to her.

Billy licked his lips. "You had told me his name once, and I decided to look it up, to see what else he had been working on along with the powers you now have." He cleared his throat as he looked at his best friend. Her face had gone from extreme anger to extreme hurt. A second later it was gone, replaced with an apathetic mask. "And…when I was doing that, I found out that he had another family. Dana and Ryan are your half brother and sister. It's true."

Kimberly covered her mouth with her hand.

Avalon held up a hand, pinched the bridge of her nose then lowered her shaking hand. "You both knew and you didn't tell me?" Their guilty expressions gave her the answer she needed. "I don't fucking believe this!" She walked up a step and shoved Billy hard on the shoulder. Jason quickly moved down to her side and took her arm, pulling her a few steps away. He kept his hand on her arm. "I live in _your _house, helped you get with _her_,"—she gestured to Trini—"willingly submitted myself to science experiments so you could try and figure out what was going on with my extra powers, was a _friend _to you, and after all of that you decided to keep this a secret? ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR FUCKING MIND?!"

"We're sorry, Avalon," Trini apologized, pleading. "We just didn't think it was right for you to know—"

"_I'm not talking to you_!" Avalon spat at the yellow ranger before turning her gaze back to the blue ranger. "How long have you known?"

Billy opened and closed his mouth for a few moments then lowered his gaze. "A while," he admitted.

Avalon pursed her lips and glanced at Jason before looking at Kimberly, Tommy, and Zack, whose faces held different levels of shock. "I'm guessing by the stupid looks on your faces that you lot didn't know either?" She didn't let them respond before turning back to her mother.

"We didn't mean to keep it from you, Ava," Billy continued. She winced, hearing the nickname come from his mouth. "We just—"

Avalon gave him the finger, turning away from him. She walked over to her mother, looking up at her. As Ellie looked back, she could see a scared, broken little girl that was on the edge of bursting out into tears, confused and just wanting comfort from her mother. Ellie reached up and cupped Avalon's cheek.

"I know this is a lot for you to work through—"

"For _her _to work through?" Zack broke in. "I'm so confused!"

Jason elbowed Zack in the side. The rangers then looked around as the communicator went off. Jason slapped his hand down on top of his own communicator and started to back away up the steps. "Excuse us Mrs…uh, Ellie, but we have something we need to take care of." He pointed over his shoulder. "Class is going to start and we can't be late."

Ellie nodded.

Trini hesitated before taking Billy's arm and the rangers went up the stairs after Jason. Avalon looked at her mother for a long moment before the corner of her mouth lifted in a half smile. "You know about me being a ranger too, don't you?"

"I knew that your father had done something to you with it…I figured it was only a matter of time and when I heard that you were in Angel Grove and that there were Power Rangers saving everyone…" Ellie trailed off with a shrug. "Just…be careful, OK?"

"OK."

Avalon turned on her heel and ran up the stairs, slipping back into the foyer of the high school where her friends were gathered, looking around to be sure no one was listening. Trini tried to her but Avalon held an open palm up in the yellow ranger's face, cutting her off.

Tommy lifted his communicator to his mouth. "What's going on, Zordon?"

"Gemma, Nie, and the putties are attacking at the beach. It'd be best if they were taken care of before Goldar shows up."

"We're on our way."It's morphin' time! Tiger Zord!"

"Stegosaurus!"

"Mastodon!"

"Pterodactyl!"

"Triceratops!"

"Saber Tooth Tiger!"

"Tyrannosaurus!"

A janitor, hearing the commotion, raced to the foyer to see what the commotion was. But by the time he arrived, the rangers were already gone.

* * *

**A/N: **Well, they can't seem to catch a break can they? Of course not, I like to torture them a bit, haha. And geez, Avalon, you can't keep the secret about being a ranger to save your life can you?

Anyway, I had this part planned from the beginning and I think having the conversation broken off by them having to go to fight Goldar and a monster was realistic and a good cliffhanger. So now Avalon is mad at Billy and Trini—though more at Billy and its causing tension amongst the team while they have to go fight. Who knows what else it will do. Any guesses?

Anyway, I hope you guys liked the chapter and I'll have it updated soon. There're more fights with Rita and Zedd as well as the rangers' personal lives coming in. Plus, I know people have been waiting for it and romance is coming in, starting with the next chapter, though I had done small scenes of it in a few chapters.

Thanks to _brankel1, Rose Specktor, ZoeyBoey224_, and _TerraHart_ for reviewing.

**~Avalon**


	10. Chapter 10: No Apologies

**Chapter 10**

_No Apologies_

* * *

"Kiya!"

"Hiya!"

"Ha!"

The power rangers flew out of the sky, striking putties and making quick work of them. Once they were all defeated, they turned their attention to Gemma and Nie, who had been watching the exchange. Gemma let out a light laugh, the pink toned monster tapping her fingers over her arm. She turned her head to look at her brother, his eyes still on the rangers.

"It's a pity they think they can beat us," she said.

"But we might as well have some fun with this," Nie agreed. The twins looked at each other and their hands started to glow green before they leapt into the air and landed by the rangers. Nie ducked under a spinning kick Tommy sent his way and slammed a glowing fist into his chest, sending him back against the ground. Kimberly jumped over Tommy and moved to attacked Nie as well but received a blow to the side of the head.

Billy, Zack, and Trini all tried to attack Gemma one on one, but ended up being defeated just as easily as Tommy and Kimberly had been. Avalon managed to kick Gemma in the face, causing her to stumble back with a scream then launch a green bolt of energy into the orange ranger's stomach, knocking her to the ground.

"Power Sword!" Jason summoned his weapon and leaped towards Nie, slashing the sword through the air. Nie leaned out of the way and used his free arm to knock the sword back out of the way, and drove a fist into Jason's stomach. Thankfully, Jason started to lean out of the way when he saw Nie's hand start to come back over, and only received a fraction of the blow. However, the shockwave lifted him off his feet and onto his back on the ground.

"This is too easy," Gemma cackled, sending out another wave of green energy.

Tommy shielded his face with his arms then clambered to his feet. "We're not going to give up that easily." He stood up and started to twirl Saba around his hands. "Saba!" He threw him forward and Saba whipped around the two monsters before coming to a halt, red beams of light coming from his eyes. It entrapped Gemma and Nie in the beam.

"Do you think this is going to work, Tommy?" Kimberly asked gripping his arm.

"Yeah, I don't know man," Zack agreed as the rangers flanked Tommy's sides. "Saba is powerful and everything, but these guys have Rita's magic with them." He brought a hand up and knocked on Tommy's helmet. "Do you remember when we tried to fight them last time? One of our zords got shrunk and they feed off each other's power."

"Then we have to be sure to split them up," Jason said, lifting his sword once more. He kept his eyes on the two monsters as they slowly started to move through the paralyzing field Saba had over them. "Make sure they can't use each other's energy, keep them far enough away."

"I don't know," Billy hesitated. "These monsters are stronger than we think and we haven't fought the two of them together in a while." He shook his head. "Rita must have something up her sleeve if she sent both of them down together."

Avalon snorted, rolling her eyes inside her helmet. She held out her hand and summoned her Power Staff, holding a tight grip on it. "Seriously, all you do is talk and analyze things to death! I'm tired of these guys and we're going to get rid of them once and for all!" Without waiting for Tommy's signal to attack, she jumped high into the air and brought her Power Staff down onto the side of Nie's head, the force of the blow knocking him out of Saba's force field.

"Dammit, Avalon!" Tommy swore as his sword flew back to him.

"We can't wait," Trini protested, charging towards Gemma. "Power Daggers!" Her power weapons appeared in her hands and she got close to Gemma, who suddenly moved out of Saba's field. She ducked under a swing of an arm that Gemma sent her way and slashed across the pink monster's front with her weapons. She then jumped backwards, flipping out of the way and giving a scissor kick, hitting her in the front once more.

"Power Lance!" Billy appeared at Trini's side, shoving his lance into the ground and using it as leverage to hoist himself into the air. Gemma, who had been preoccupied with Trini, looked up in surprise seconds before Billy's foot landed on her face, knocking her to her back.

"How dare you!?" Gemma shrieked, her hands moving to cover her face. She removed her hands and shot the up, blasting green energy into Billy and Trini. She laughed evilly as the blast coursed through their veins, rendering the paralyzed. The blue and yellow rangers fell to the ground, quaking as they tried to force themselves through her energy blast.

On the other side of the field, Jason, Tommy, Kimberly, Zack, and Avalon were all trying to attack Nie, but he moved faster than any of them anticipated. Jason grabbed his chest as he was kicked, knocking him flat to the ground. He sat up in time to watch as the white, pink, back, and orange rangers were all hit by his blats of energy. Jason's eyes moved over to Gemma and saw she was doing the same thing, a malicious grin on her face as she continued to hold the two shaking rangers. Then his eyes moved back over to Nie, who held the rest of his friends.

_So that's how they're doing it, _he realized. _Every move they make is the same as to what the other is doing. When she does an attack up high, Nie does an attack up high. Then when she does an attack that's low, he does the same thing. It's like they're synchronized…like twins. _Jason got to his knees, holding onto his Power Sword tightly with both hands, trying to figure out what to do. "Splitting them apart isn't going to do anything…maybe attacking them at the same time…?" _That's it! _Jason, feeling a renewed sense of energy, got to his feet and charged towards Gemma and Nie. He jumped up in the air and with a cry of effort; he slashed his sword sideways, catching both Gemma and Nie across the shoulders. The blows knocked the pink and blue monsters off balance, breaking their attack on the other rangers.

"Man!" Zack slapped the ground with an open palm. "We're never going to beat these guys."

"Wanna bet?" Avalon started to stand up, but Kimberly grabbed onto her. "Let go, Kim!"

"You can't keep running off on your own like that," Kimberly protested. "You're putting the rest of us in danger when you do that. We work as a team or nothing at all. That's the only way we're going to be able to beat these guys."

Avalon laughed obnoxiously loud. "I think at this point it's been proven that we're not a team." She sneered.

"Enough!" Jason snapped, causing the rangers to fall silent. He didn't look at them, choosing rather to keep his gaze on Gem and Nie once again. The two monsters stood next to each other, their fingertips twitching as they snarled at the rangers. "I was thinking about what Billy said, how they feed off each other's energy. When we tried fighting them separately, they were just mirroring what the other was doing." He tightened his grip. "What we need to do—"

"Is fight them at once," Billy broke in. "Thus eradicating the ability for them to sense what the other is thinking." He snapped his fingers. "That's it! They're using each other's sense of psychic abilities to see what move we make next. It's like they can see from each other's eyes."

"Then we just need to blind them," Zack said with an even grin.

"Exactly," Billy agreed.

"Finally, something I can do." Avalon put down her Power Staff and rubbed her gloved hands together. Her hands then started to glow orange and it encased her fingers up to her arms before sending stream of fire towards the monsters. She continued to stream fire at them until there was smoke thick enough they couldn't see through. Gemma's and Nie's coughing could be heard over the smoke.

Trini then clenched her hands into fists as they started to flow yellow. She raised them high over her head and dark storm clouds gathered in the sky above them. She opened her fists then closed them once more, bringing her arms down, causing a large lightning bolt to come from the sky. It shot down and struck the center of the wall of fire where the monsters were standing. The rangers watched as they screamed in pain and were thrown to the ground.

"Aqua Strike!" Billy formed a large ball of water and shot it towards the monsters, striking them as well as dousing out the flames that threatened to spread.

"Don't think you've got us beat, power brats," Gemma snarled, her eyes flashing. Hers and Nie's hands continued to glow green. "There's plenty more where that came from."

Kimberly reacted before they could, creating a large gust of wind with bolts of energy inside, striking both of the monsters.

"Alright guys, let's bring them together!" Jason declared.

"Power Axe!" Zack tossed his weapon into the air, making the bulk of the combined weapon.

"Power Bow!" Kimberly threw hers to add onto Zack's weapon, giving the blaster wings.

"Power Daggers!" Trini spun her weapons around her fingers before throwing it up to add onto the weapon.

"Power Lance!" Billy pulled his lance apart and threw it up onto the weapon as well.

"Power Sword!" Jason jumped up high into the air and brought his sword down on top of the weapon, making the power blaster complete. "Let's do it guys." He held onto the power blaster and Kimberly, Trini, Zack, and Billy all crowded around him to help him hold onto the weapon. "Ready?"

"You got it, guys." Tommy encouraged.

"Fire!" the five of them cried in unison and the blaster show out its energy.

"Fire Blast!" Avalon shot a stream of fire into the energy blast of the Power Cannon. The two fights combined and formed and even greater beam of energy, rocketing right into the faces of Gemma and Nie. They screamed in pain, writing around as they started to glow green, the bright light glowing brighter and bright as the seconds passed. The rangers watched as the light continued to increase in luminosity, bolts of electricity flying off their bodies as well.

Finally, the screams ceased and an explosion blasted up into the air. The shockwave sent the rangers flying off their feet, making them dimorph. They looked at each other as they got to their feet, staring at the crater that had been left by the monsters. Jason wiped some soot off his face, sitting back on his heels. He gaped at the crater and smoke as it wafted away then let out a light laugh.

"They're gone," Zack said. "We did it! We finally did it!"

"Don't get your hopes up too high, Twinkle-Toes," Avalon reminded him. "We still have, like, ten of them to go." She stood up, brushing off her clothes. "We just got lucky this time."

"Yeah, lucky we didn't get destroyed," Jason broke in. He turned his head to look at her. "I know you're upset about what happened at school today, but the last thing we need for our team to fall apart because of it."

Avalon raised a condescending eyebrow and for a long moment, she was silent. Then her face became an empty mask and she crossed her arms over her chest. "The only team I see here is you guys," she said, motioning to the other rangers. "You never keep secrets from each other and I'm sure that you wouldn't ever think about betraying each other either."

"We didn't betray you!" Trini protested.

"And you didn't do me any favors by keeping me in the dark either," Avalon continued. Her mask then cracked and the rangers could see the hurt the orange ranger was trying so hard to hide. "You all keep saying we're friends and everything and I used to think that my feeling I didn't really belong was my fault and now I realize it's not." She shook her head. "I was never really your friend in the first place so why keep acting like it?"

"Av," Kimberly protested. "C'mon, you know you're our friend."

"Please," Billy added. He waved a hand. "Don't punish the rest of them because of a decision I made. I just thought it was a good one at the time and—"

"And nothing," Zack interrupted. He held up his hands, looking back and forth between the two rangers. "I know there's this big crisis going on that, frankly, I'm interested in too. But I think right now would be a good idea if we debriefed with Alpha and Zordon and figure out why these monsters were so easy to beat this time."

"Zack's right," Tommy agreed, hair disheveled around his dirt streaked face. "And the news vans will be here soon, we can't let them find us." His eyes widened slightly as he shook his head. "That'll be something else we don't need."

"You lot do what you want," Avalon said. "I'm out." She brought her hands together and teleported away in a blast of orange light.

She arrived back at the Cranston house, finding it empty. _Duh, Avalon, you just left school. _She frowned, immediately thinking about her mother and how she had left her on the front steps of Angel Grove High. Where was she right now? Looking for a place to stay? Wandering around the city? Waiting for her to get back to the school? _She knows I'm a ranger; at this point the news is broadcasting how we saved the day. _Avalon continued to stand on the front step of the Cranston house, trying to figure out what to do. Finally, she made up her mind and teleported back to the middle school. Heading inside, she went straight to the receptionist's desk.

"My name is Avalon Mitchell, I'm here to pick up my sister Bailey for a doctor's appointment," Avalon mumbled, keeping her eyes down. "She's going to be out for the rest of the day."

"Of course," The receptionist replied with a sincere smile. She picked up a clipboard and pushed it over the desk to the orange ranger. "Just fill out this form and I'll send someone back to get her." She picked up her phone and called back to a classroom while Avalon filled out the form.

Her eyes moved over the list of things required to take her sister out of the school: Name, Reason for leaving, signature, emergency contact number. Something that every parent had to do when they picked up their kid, she could see the signatures of all of the other parents then put hers on the form as well. Her handwriting looked very juvenile compared to the others. It was a bit unsettling. Avalon pushed the clipboard back over the counter and shoved her hands into her pockets, looking over the walls filled with drawings, paintings, and projects filled the walls. Things that parents would have put up on the refrigerator when they got an 'A'.

That was what she had always wanted. She wanted to be able to go home with an A on a paper and have it be stuck to the metal front of the refrigerator with a colorful looking magnet. Maybe one of the letters that would spell out her name. However, every time she would arrive home from school she would find another babysitter, most of the time it was Miss. Angela, who she really enjoyed, but not her father. Whenever she would try to show him what grade she got on her homework, he would shoo her off and go back to working with whatever project would keep him behind closed doors.

"Av?" Avalon turned around to find Bailey walking over to her, a jacket draped over her arms, backpack hanging from one hand. "What's going on? Why did you need to take me out of school? Is everything OK?"

"Relax, booger, everything's…fine," Avalon replied. She reached out and took Bailey's backpack, slinging it over her own shoulder. Holding the door to the school open, she let her sister leave the building first before following her. "Now that we got rid of Gemma and Nie."

"I thought I heard my communicator going off," Bailey said. She punched herself in the thigh. "I wasn't sure because we were in music class and I—"she broke off, tilting her head back towards the sky. "Ugh! I knew I should have checked things out. Is everyone alright? Did the helmets hold up?"

"Hang on a tick, Bay, there's something more serious I need to tell you," Avalon said. He turned to Bailey and gave her a meaningful glance. "And this is _really _serious."

Bailey frowned, looking up at her big sister. "Did someone get hurt?"

_Yes, _Avalon thought bitterly. She pressed her mouth together, letting out a slow breath through her nose. How was she going to explain this to her sister? It shouldn't be that hard, Bailey was part of Mensa, she could probably find some way to prove that 2 plus 2 equaled a number other than 4 the same way she would breaks the news about their mother being back.

Bailey grabbed her sister's arm and held her still. "What happened, Av?"

Avalon looked up and found they had arrived back at Angel Grove high. She looked at the front steps and saw Ellie was still sitting at the top of the stairs, her arms around her knees. Avalon's eyebrows furrowed together in confusion. Why was she still there? "Um." Avalon turned back to her sister then leaned forward, gripping her shoulders. "You know I love you, right?"

"Right," Bailey said slowly. "I love you, too, Av."

"And that I wouldn't do anything to hurt you?"

"You've proven that before."

"Right." Avalon licked her lips. "And you know how I never wanted to talk about Mum and Dad?" Bailey nodded again. Avalon took a breath then turned and motioned to the steps of the school. "Well, now it seems like I don't really have a choice. There's Mum."

Bailey's entire face screwed up in confusion and she gazed at Avalon for a long moment before leaning to the side and followed Avalon's gaze. Her eyes widened then she looked at Avalon once more before she started to run. Ellie, noticing her youngest daughter heading towards her, got to her feet and headed down the rest of the steps of the school. Avalon slowly walked along behind them.

"Mummy!" Bailey opened her arms and flung them around her mother's waist when she reached them.

"Oh, Abigail," Ellie replied, holding onto her daughter and holding her tightly. At Avalon's eyebrows raise, she corrected herself. "Sorry, I know you like to go by Bailey now." She smoothed Baileys' dark hair off her forehead before turning to Avalon. "Apart from the soot, I'm glad to see you're OK." She reached out a hand to smudge some of the dark spots from the orange ranger's face and she backed away from her outstretched hand.

"Monster battles can do that to you sometimes," Avalon murmured.

"Av!" Bailey gasped.

"Relax, Bay, she knows I'm a power ranger," Avalon said dismissively.

"She does?" Bailey turned back to her mother, eyebrows furrowed together in confusion. Her dark eyes were searching her mother's wondering what else she could have known. Avalon was suddenly jealous of her little sister, who wouldn't be as affected by what was to be revealed to her as Avalon had been.

"I do," Ellie agreed. She hugged Bailey once more then lifted her head to find Avalon continuing to stare at her. "Oh, well, I should be getting back to the hotel. I need to check in."

"You can come to our house, Mum," Bailey protested. She shrugged. "Well, it's not really our house; we're staying with our friend Billy."

_She must be too excited to notice the tension, _Avalon thought. She could feel her mother's eye son her. The last thing she needed was for her to get on her case about being with The Vipers as well. The less she knew the better, she supposed. Avalon reached up a hand and scratched the back of her head, briefly closing her eyes. "I have something I need to take care of," she said, pointing behind her. "I'll be back in a few minutes." She turned to Bailey and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Why don't you go with her to the hotel?"

"Ok," Bailey said slowly. "Av, are you sure you're Ok?"

_Other than wondering if Mum is going to go to jail for neglect, wondering what the Cranstons and the rest of those guys' parents are going to say when they find out, what Mum will say about The Vipers, and what it means for my community service and my meetings with my probation officer, I'm fine, _Avalon thought. She resisted the urge to curl her upper lip. "I'm fine." She ruffled Bailey's hair. "Don't give her any trouble, Goober."

"I won't, Booger," Bailey replied sticking her tongue out. "That's your specialty."

Avalon laughed and dropped her hand from her sister's hair. She straightened and looked at her other once more. Ellie had been watching them with an air of sadness around her. _If anyone deserves to be sad, it's me. _"I'll see you later." She lifted a hand and turned on her heel, starting down the street. She glanced over her shoulder to find her sister and mother walking away as well, Bailey talking a mile a minute. _Perfect. _Avalon, using her enhanced speed, arrived at the auto shop in a matter of moments.

The Angel Grove auto shop was like any other place cars were taken to. However there was a better chance a customer wouldn't be ripped off at this shop. Grease stains filled the floor but it otherwise looked clean. As Avalon stepped inside, she could see a few trucks suspended towards the ceiling with a few mechanics walking underneath them. When Avalon passed them they hardly looked at her as she passed. No wonder Chase wanted to work there, no one questioned who she was or what she wanted and it was close enough for him to see what she was doing while at school.

It would have been funny if it wasn't so creepy.

"Is Chase here?" She asked the lead mechanic.

He looked at her for, toweling his hands off with grease stained dishtowel. The man continued to look her up and down for a long moment before standing up from the open hood he had been kneeling by. Reaching out a hand, he placed it on top of the hood and slammed it shut, flipping the towel up onto his shoulder. "Yeah," he finally replied. "He's here. I'll get him for you."

Avalon nodded and crossed her arms over her chest, waiting for him to come back. She turned at the sound of footsteps scraping over the garage floor and watched as Chase appeared around the side of a doorway.

Chase looked at her a long moment, leaning against the doorway to the room. He reached up, scratching his bare chest. "Trouble in paradise?" He taunted in a low drawl. "Did your friends get tired of you already?"

Avalon gritted her teeth, turning her head away from him. It was also so annoying how he was still able to see right through her. "Don't get me started, Chase, I'm not in the mood," Avalon replied under her breath. She placed her hands on her hips, shaking her head.

Chase dropped his hand then pushed himself upright. "Then what are you doing here?" His eyes burned into hers. "I don't need you for anything yet."

"Yet is the keyword, mate," Avalon said simply, her eyes still on his.

Chase's cheek twitched before he started to smile. His lips were the only indicator that he was, indeed, smiling. His eyes hadn't changed; there was no light in his eyes, nothing that appeared to make him happy. They were just dead.

"Fine." Chase tilted his head back behind him. "There's an office back there, just wait for me. I finish my shift soon."

"No worries."

…

..

.

When Avalon arrived back at the Cranston's house, she opened the door and rolled her eyes, finding Billy sitting on the bottom step. He stood up as she closed the door behind her, being careful to keep the wad of bills out of sight in her back pocket.

"Ava, please, can we talk?" Billy asked, following her as she headed into the kitchen.

"There's nothing to talk about," Avalon replied shortly. "And _please_ don't call me that!"

"If you would just let me explain why I believed that the restriction of information about your parents was something that was needed—"

"And would you speak English for once?" Avalon turned on her heel and glared at the blue ranger. He took a step back, looking down at her. "Seriously, I don't care _why _you did it, Billy. You did it." He winced at the use of his name. It felt a little foreign on her tongue; she had become so used to calling him 'Smurf' at the time. She brought a shaking hand up to her head then viciously brought it back down to her side. Clenching her jaw, a vein in her forehead started to throb. "That's not even the worst part about it, honestly. What sucks is that I've been…so honest with you about a lot of things. I told you everything when I was in the hospital, I told you…" her voice lowered to a whisper. "How scared I felt, knowing I had put Bailey into a situation like this…being a ranger and everything I had already done."

"I know," Billy agreed. "I know. But I didn't want to hurt you any further," he said. "I didn't want you think that about your father, not when we didn't know the whole story." He lowered his voice. "I didn't want you to think you were alone."

Avalon regarded him coolly. "Too late for that, mate,"

* * *

"C'mon Zack, get up! Today's the big day!"

Zack rolled onto his other side and yanked his blankets up over his head. He settled back down into his pillows once he was settled. He let out a sigh and tried to recover his breathing pattern. As soon as he fell asleep again he could get right back to dreaming about Angela. About the way she smiled, the way she laughed, the way she smelled when she leaned in to—

"Zack!" Zack groaned and pulled the blankets tighter over his head. He could feel the blankets being tugged off him and he tried his hardest to pull them back up. Seconds later he felt a blast of cold air and immediately curled up into a ball. "Zachary Taylor, you're going to be late for the big game today."

Zack groaned, creaking open an eye. "What big game?" He croaked.

"Your first football game, of course," Mr. Taylor replied, coming around the other side of the bed. He leaned down into his son's face. "Remember? It's Saturday. The first day of the football season." Mr. Taylor grabbed Zack's arms and pulled him up into a sitting position. "You have to get a good breakfast before you play, you need the energy. Your mother is making it now."

"Cool." Zack curled up into a ball once more. "Wake me up once it's done."

"No, no!" Mr. Taylor grabbed Zack's arm and helped him to his feet. "You have to get ready now. Be sure you have your cleats, and jerseys and shoes." He then thumped Zack hard on the shoulder. "Make sure you got your athletic cup too."

"Dad!" Zack groaned again. He brought his hands up to his face and ran it over his face, sitting back down on the edge of the bed.

"Ok, ok. I'll go make sure breakfast is ready and you just get your things together," Mr. Taylor said.

Zack nodded, but didn't reply. Once he heard the door close behind him, he let out a long breath. How could he have forgotten that it was the first game of the season that day? He and the other boys had been practicing as much as they could around their monster fights. As a matter of fact, he had forgotten _because _of the monster fights. Taking on high school guys around his weight was nothing compared to the fear of being squished by the sweaty foot of whatever monster Rita and Zedd had cooked up that time. He had forgotten how much he hadn't wanted to play football land only agreed to it so that his father would be proud of him.

_He's proud all right, _Zack thought. _Him and Uncle Zeke and Uncle DJ. _He had seen all of their pictures since he was a kid. They had all played football. No dancers in there. It was a wonder Zack had managed to lat that long before being forced into it in some way. It seemed to be some sort of a family tradition and Zack was the odd man out, preferring to move to the music rather than run down a field, trying not to be tackled by guys that wanted nothing but to pulverize him.

On auto-pilot, Zack gathered his jersey and pulled it on over a pair of jeans. He would change into the rest of his uniform when he got to the school later that day. Not that it made a difference. None of the boys were that excited to play. Tommy, being the leader of the team was frustrated, not sure how to fix the fallout Billy, Trini, and Avalon had. Billy was sulking; he was never one that was sure how to work through his emotions as easily as it was to move through math and science. Jason was the only one that seemed ready for this game; he had so much more energy lately than he had before. If Zack didn't know better, he would say Jason enjoyed the idea of the game more than martial arts.

And that was saying something.

Zack gathered his things and went down to the breakfast table. He finished the eggs, toast, and cereal that was put out for him and got into the car. On the ride to school, he tuned out his parents talking about the game that day, reminiscing when they were in high school and attending the games as well; his father a player and his mother a cheerleader. When he arrived at school he immediately went to the locker room where he found his friends putting on their pads and uniform.

"Hey," he greeted them.

"Hey." The response was muted; Jason was the only one who was amped up, bouncing back and forth on his toes, throwing punches every now and then. Zack regarded him with a strange look and glanced at Tommy, who made the cuckoo sign by the side of his head. Zack then turned to Billy, who was sitting on a bench, slowly pulling on his shoulder pads.

"Hey, c'mon B-Man, things are going to get better soon," Zack said, patting him on the shoulder. "Just give her some time. She'll come around." He sat down on the bench in front of Billy, who looked up at him. "Remember the time I accidentally spilled Kim's perfume? She said she wouldn't talk to me again and now we're as close as ever."

"That's because she's still waiting for you to buy her another bottle of perfume," Jason pointed out.

"She can wait 'till Christmas," Zack said. He waved his hand, and then turned back to Billy who had only managed a half smile. "Don't worry, man. She'll come around." He clapped Billy on the shoulder then stood up to finish getting ready. He had closed his locker door when the coach came into the locker room and ushered them out onto the field. With his helmet in one hand, he jogged out onto the field with the rest of his teammates.

Once they reached their bench he put the helmet down and picked up a cup to get some water. He wasn't going to be playing until the second half and with how hot it got in Angel Grove, becoming dehydrated wouldn't help anyone. Zack turned and scanned the bleachers.

Movement caught his eye and he watched as Avalon, who had been sitting at the top of the bleachers, staring intently at the field came down the steps and stepped down onto the grass, disappearing from sight amongst the crowd.

Zack looked further up at the bleachers. He could see his father and mother sitting in the stands a few rows behind his friends. Kimberly and Trini were holding onto flags and were cheering loudly when saw him. Once he caught his father's gaze, Mr. Taylor grinned and gave him a thumb's up. His eyes then moved down to where the cheerleaders were waving their pom-poms and cheering for the team.

Angela smiled and waved at him.

Zack sighed and turned back to the field.

Not even the image of Angela in a cheerleading uniform was going to change his mood.

* * *

**A/N: **This chapter was a bit of a filler, it hadn't started out that way, but it ended up being it. I know I breezed through Gemma and Nie's destruction, but I needed to have Jason's powers come in sooner rather than later. And, of course, I needed to bring the Vipers back to finish up that storyline.

Anything else you'd like to see as the story goes on?

Btw, if you don't already, follow me on twitter (AvalonAvenue) because it's where I let people know when my stories are updated. If not, I can PM you when they're updated if you want.

**~Avalon**


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